The Final Summer
by Ceridwen Lucius
Summary: Since the age of ten, Naruto spent every summer vacation with his aunt. Almost an adult, about to graduate, this would most likely be their last summer together. He had changed and so had she. Both of them were seeing the other in a different light. Their relationship itself would experience an irrevocable transformation neither one of them expected. AU/OC DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

"Aloha!" said the pretty woman with long black hair wearing nothing but a bikini top and a grass skirt. "Welcome to Hawaii!"

Naruto leaned down for the woman to place the flower lei made of bright pink plumeria flowers around his neck. What a nice greeting waiting for him on his way out of the tunnel from getting off the airplane. He immediately followed the signs to the luggage carousel to retrieve his suitcase so he could find the woman he had come here to see.

For the last seven years, since he was ten, he visited his aunt in the summer. Each year she chose a different beach destination. He had stuck his toes in the sands of the French Riviera, St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, the Grecian island of Crete, and several other of the most exotic and beautiful beaches the world had to offer.

This was his first time in Hawaii. Naruto could hardly wait to get to the beach. Thanks to his Aunt Riko, he had enjoyed many new experiences on beaches all over the world. He had learned how to surf and snorkel. He had ridden his first horse alongside the sea. He had sunbathed naked on a blanket on the sand.

Aunt Riko had taken him to a nude beach in Greece. That was definitely a stimulating and memorable outing for a fourteen year old. Needless to say, that little adventure remained a secret between them. His mother would kill them both if she ever found out.

"Kit!"

The voice reached Naruto's ears, alerting him that she was near. Kit - her nickname for him, short for kitsune. He had always been her baby fox, literally since the day he was born.

At the age of ten, Riko had come to live with her sister to help her care for newborn Naruto after an extraordinarily difficult birth. The delivery had nearly killed Kushina and left whisker like scars on both of his cheeks.

They had never told him the harrowing details which really did not matter. All he knew was his mother, the woman he loved most in the world, had recovered and lived to raise him. In turn, his aunt had become the second most important woman in life, remaining with them to be more like a big sister to him.

"Kit! Where are you?" she called, her voice cutting through the hum of people and activity.

Bobbing back and forth, rising up on his tiptoes, Naruto spotted her amidst the sea of people flooding through the airport terminal. The people separated and streamed around her like a river parts to flow past a stone. His heart beat faster as he took in the sight of her. She was more beautiful than he remembered.

The sun had bleached her Uzumaki red hair to be the same color of a shiny copper penny. She wore it short now, the corkscrew curls poking up in all directions from her head. The sun had the opposite effect on her skin transforming its usual light creamy color into a golden, caramel tan. The short white shorts she wore made her legs appear a darker, warmer shade of bronze. The racer-back coral colored tank top bared her shoulder blades showing off her black spiral whirlpool tattoo on the right and the black leaf on the left.

Naruto raised his hand to wave to her as she turned in his direction. Her turquoise eyes widened upon seeing him. His smile broadened to mirror her toothy grin.

"Kitsune!" she shrieked, running toward him.

People cleared a wide path for the fast moving woman which was a good thing for them because she surely would have ran over them in her rush to get to get to her nephew. Without slowing down, she leapt at him, throwing her arms around his neck.

Naruto caught her for her protection and his, swinging her around to disperse the momentum. He held her close to him while she laughed like a madwoman.

"I'm so glad you're here!" she exclaimed, squeezing him until he could barely breathe.

Immediately she commenced to peppering his cheeks with kisses. He was seventeen years old, but it never occurred to him to be embarrassed by her ardent display of familial love.

"It's good to see you too, Aunt Riko," he replied, setting her on her feet.

"You're so tall!" she blurted, unhinging her arms from around his neck. Reaching up, she touched the super short golden blond hair that was mere millimeters from being shaved down to his scalp. "Your hair is so short!"

"And so are you," he teased, patting her on the head.

Just last year he had only been a few inches taller than her vertically challenged five foot three inches. In a short amount of time, he had grown to tower over her diminutive frame at five nine.

"You're still a little twerp," she snapped playfully, pinching his cheek. She linked her arm through his, leading him out of the airport. "I believe this is going to be our best summer together yet."

"I think you're right," he agreed.

Aunt Riko said that every year. And every year, she was right.


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto was led to a topless white sport Jeep Wrangler. He picked up his suitcase and threw it in the back before jumping into the passenger's seat. They drove away from the airport, maneuvering through heavy traffic in a cityscape that looked like any other big city in the world. Soon, the traffic became thinner, the buildings fewer and further between. The driving lanes lessened to two instead of four.

The road started to incline slightly. Cookie cutter homes crammed into subdivisions gave way to single dwellings situated on a large plot of land. The ocean ran parallel to the road, visible in the wide spaces between the lushly landscaped properties before being blocked out again by densely packed areas of trees and bushes and other leafy green vegetation.

Finally, the black pavement ran out and the road turned to gravel, all the while climbing further upward. They were going up more of a big hill than a mountain though. Just before the road became a dirt path, she turned into a winding driveway covered in crushed, bleached clam shells.

"Hey, Kit, you're gonna love this house!" Riko gushed, parking on the semicircular concrete driveway in front of the white rectangular house.

The house looked like a large metal box, a shipping container more specifically. Only a single door allowed entrance in the front. There were no windows. How bizarre.

Naruto followed her around the back, stepping on circles comprised of decorative rock and cement sunk down into the black volcanic rocks outlining the house. Once there, he could see the house was actually two of the repurposed shipping containers positioned in an L shape. The walls along the entire back were made completely of glass. That was all the windows this place needed.

Naruto could see there were two bedrooms, one on each end of the L. There was also a living room, a kitchen, and another room that appeared to be an office. Good thing this house was built on top of hill with no others nearby. No curtains offered privacy.

The unusual house fit his aunt though. Unique, a tad strange, but beautiful. Aunt Riko had a flair for the weird and wonderful. She was weird and wonderful. Those qualities were two of the many reasons he loved her dearly.

A small rectangular pool with an attached hot tub dominated the backyard. Large bushes with massive green leaves formed a natural perimeter, offering a modicum of shelter should there be any prying eyes. A little white building, most likely a storage shed of some sort, sat at the back corner of the house.

Naruto's big blue eyes strayed to the ocean. He studied the medium sized waves rolling in. The waves looked great today. Perfect for casual, relaxing surfing.

"There are surfboards in the shed. We can go surfing whenever you like," Riko informed him as if reading his thoughts.

"Awesome," he murmured, watching the water circle upon itself, rolling up to form an excellent tunnel.

Naruto's stomach growled, reminding him it had been while since he had last eaten. He was also tired. It was a long flight. He yawned as if to prove the point to himself that surfing would have to wait.

"So lunch and a nap?" she suggested, taking him by the hand to pull him into toward the house.

"Sounds like a good plan," he replied, stifling another yawn.

Riko pushed open the glass sliding door which had not been locked. She walked through the all white, including the carpet, living room furnished with a two person couch, a papasan chair, and a coffee table. She tossed her keys into the fish shaped green bowl in the middle of the counter. The only seating in the tiny kitchen was at the counter on spindle back barstools with puffy sky blue cushions on the seats.

"I fixed your favorite," she said, opening the refrigerator. "I prepared it before leaving so the noddles might be a little soggy."

"That's all right. I'm sure the ramen will still be good," he yawned, covering his mouth with his hand.

Riko handed him a bottle of water after putting the bowls of ramen in the microwave. She twisted off the cap of her own bottle, taking a sip.

"This will be your home away from home for the next month," she announced, glancing around the small but nicely decorated little house.

"Where are you calling home these days?" he asked, finishing off his water. Before he could ask for another, she retrieved a second bottle from the refrigerator.

"I'll be staying here for a while. Maybe until Christmas," she said.

"Are you going to come home...I mean home _home,_ " he paused, his eyes meeting hers with a silent plea,"at Christmas this year?"

Before she could answer, the microwave beeped giving her an excuse to ignore the question. She had not been home in eight years; not for his birthday, not for Christmas, not for anything.

For reasons neither she nor his mother would divulge, Aunt Riko had packed and left the night after her graduation from high school. He remembered hearing the two of them arguing, screaming at each other, but he could not understand the words. His Dad had yelled at both of them to be quiet. He had never heard his father raise his voice to his mother before or after that night.

Naruto had been terrified, too frightened to come out of his room to see what was going on. Aunt Riko had not bothered to say good-bye, leaving him hurt and confused.

She did not come home for Christmas that year. No calls or letters came from her. Soon after the cherry blossoms dropped from the trees, his father answered a call from an overseas phone number. Riko called every Saturday after that, speaking to him and his dad, but his mom flatly refused to talk to her sister.

Naruto admired his dad for being a peacemaker. Minato Namikaze had performed a miracle of negotiation, being the one to build a bridge between the two prideful and hardheaded sisters. After a tentative reconciliation around the middle of June, Riko requested that her nephew be allowed to come see her for his summer vacation.

The offer of an all expenses paid trip and the perpetual whining and moping of a child was all his mother needed to agree to Naruto taking the vacation to Playa de Ses Illetes, Formentera, Balearic Islands. So began a yearly tradition. Sadly, with his impending graduation, then entrance to university, and, in turn, _real_ adult life, these yearly vacations would be coming to an end.

"Are you going to come to graduation at least?" Naruto questioned her, digging into the big bowl of ramen she set on the white counter in front of him.

"Baby, I don't know," she sighed, avoiding making eye contact with him. "Let's just enjoy now, and we'll see what happens."

"Please, come. You can stay a few weeks. We can view the cherry blossoms like we used to. Do you remember? You would hold my hand as we walked under the trees. The flowers would get stuck in your hair, and I'd pull them out for you. Remember?" He poked idly at the soy sauce ramen having lost his appetite.

"I remember." She stirred the noodles in her bowl with her chopsticks showing no real intention of eating them. "So would you want me to hold your hand? You'll be eighteen after all. It might be a little embarrassing."

They both laughed.

"I'm sorry," Naruto apologized, not knowing what else to say.

Riko kissed him on the cheek, stroking her thumbs over the streaks on his skin. "Go ahead and eat. You need a nap after your eight hour plane ride. We'll talk later."

"Will we?" he retorted, stuffing his mouth full of noodles.

"You listen to me, young man. There are some things you don't need to know. Some things you will never know," she returned, her voice low, slightly menacing. Her blue green eyes narrowed, keeping him from seeing their lovely color. "Just like your mother will never know about the nude beach."

"Do they have any of those here?" he asked hopefully, giving her one of his patent foxish grins.

"Absolutely not!" she answered pointedly.

They both laughed again, further off setting the stifling atmosphere. Let the fun times begin.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: This symbol ~~~~~~~~~\\\/~~~~~~~~ indicates a point of view change within a chapter.

* * *

Riko reclined on the cream colored cushion on the lounger by the pool. She closed her eyes to block out the sun and to think. Her baby had grown up. She had always felt he was as much her baby as Kushina's. She had been sent to her sister's household to help raise the child after all. Not only an aunt, she had acted in the roles of nanny and big sister as well.

Naruto had changed. He had grown up, and she had missed the whole damn thing. She had missed seeing his gradual morphing from boy to man being away from him for the last seven years. Despite knowing he could not remain a hyperactive whirlwind of pranks and feverish activity forever, his transformation had surprised her.

He had grown so handsome and tall between last summer and this one. He had become serious and quiet like his father, but he was still argumentative and outspoken like Kushina. He simply spoke fewer, more pointed words unlike her sister who liked to barrage a person with verbal bullets when upset.

Riko sighed wistfully, a tear forming in the corner of her eye. Sadness over his transformation into a man tainted her happiness of him being with her again for another summer. Now that he was on his way to starting his adult life, they would be separated even further by their grown up obligations and duties. This would be their final carefree summer together.

Riko feared at one point she might have to postpone or cancel their vacation entirely. She had barely met the deadline for Jiraiya's latest transcript. With the aid of gallons of coffee, foregoing sleep, and constant nagging at her boss, she had pulled it off. Her first two days in Hawaii were spent sleeping in a hotel room. She thoroughly enjoyed her career as Jiraiya's assistant and editor, helping him write some of the most tawdry and popular romance novels on the market. However, sometimes she hated it.

It was her chosen career that had taken her away from her family to begin with. Kushina had been so angry. Her sister had screamed and thrown things, forbidding her to go. Accused of being selfish, immature, and thoughtless, Riko admitted she was all of those things, but she followed her heart and left anyway. Regret haunted her in the quiet moments like this one.

Riko and her baby boy would have to make the best of their time together, thoroughly enjoying this final summer before the world at large infringed upon them. The summer was theirs. Special times spent in special places, never to be forgotten. She would be content with the memories. That was what the last seven years had been about - making memories to sustain her.

Riko stood up stripping off her tank top and shorts to be wearing only her white bikini. Running for the pool, she dove in, streaking through the water mere inches under the surface. The water was ice cold on her sun baked skin and felt great.

The momentum from her running start took her from one end of the pool to the other. Her outstretched hands hit the wall to keep her from bumping her head. Breaking above the surface, she inhaled a breath of air then submerged once again to swim around under the water until she needed another breath.

Rising to the surface, Riko flipped over on her back and floated around the pool. The waves she created undulated her body from underneath. Free and light once again, she sighed with contentment. The only thing that would make this better would be if Naruto joined her for a swim.

~~~~~~~~~\\\/~~~~~~~~

Naruto slowly roused from sleep. His head pounded slightly from a dehydration headache. He wanted to get up for water but found it difficult to move. The sound of splashing caught his attention. Angling his body a little in the bed enabled him to see out of the glass wall to the pool.

Riko stood at the edge of the water, dripping onto the concrete. She raised her arms, hands pressed together, fingers pointed to the sky. Her curls had stretched out and her hair lay plastered against her neck down to her shoulders. He never would have guessed her hair was actually that long. A year had made a big difference in her as well.

His eyes followed the nice curves of her body, her hour glass shape. He noticed a lot of things about women he had never taken note of before. He had been too busy playing pranks and having fun to worry about girls except for an occasional ogling should a naked, or half naked, body present itself. Aunt Riko had always called him a late bloomer. Just as it had taken a while for him to grow taller, it had taken him a bit longer than most to develop in other ways as well.

Although he was fourteen when they visited the clothing optional beach, Naruto had spent the day running around, playing in the surf and building sand castles. The only time he became interested in his fellow nude beach goers was to dribble cold water on the backs of women sunbathing on their bellies to make them scream and jump up. He would admit he had been quite fascinated by the variance in the size and shape of women's breasts but beyond that had not thought too much more about them.

Presently, Naruto propped up on his elbows to observe his aunt more closely wondering what in the hell she was doing when she pointed her fingers toward the sky then bent over to point them at the water. She dove in sending up a spray of diamond like droplets of water.

Aunt Riko treated a simple dive like a spiritual event. Her whole life had been spent living in the moment. He wanted to live like that too. Following his dreams, seeking his desires; no looking back, no regrets. He envied and admired her simultaneously, on rare occasions abhorred her, for being selfishly determined to pursue what she wanted.

The ache in his head made him groan and drop down onto his back. His head lolled to the right toward the bedside table. A bottle of water and two pills waited there for him along with tangerine and pineapple slices. She thought of everything. She knew he would be headachy and dehydrated, especially after eating all of that salty ramen for lunch before his nap.

Once he finished the snack, Naruto opened the sliding glass door from his room to walk out onto the patio under the awning of the house. He was not quite ready to face the brunt of the blinding and burning hot sun quite yet.

The pool did look awfully inviting though. Pulling off his shirt, he got a running start and launched himself toward the water. Pulling his legs up to his chest, he held them for a cannonball.

Naruto broke above the water, shaking his head and wiping the water out of his eyes. Gazing down into the water, he saw her bikini clad figure glide by practically crawling across the bottom of the pool. Inhaling a deep breath, he sank to the shallow bottom to wrap his arms around her waist. He clung to her as she continued to swim along like an elegant sea skate.

This was how Aunt Riko taught him to swim underwater. They had practiced in a pool before going to the ocean. Their first time under the waves had been in the clear blue waters of the Caribbean Island of Varadero. They had paddled along together watching fish of every color of the rainbow swim by.

Naruto's arms tightened around her waist when he felt her turn upward to rise toward the surface. He continued to embrace her in a backwards hug lifting her from the bottom of the pool as they breathed in deeply.

"You can let go now," she murmured when he lowered them back into the water up to their shoulders.

"I don't want to," he returned, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Miss me?"

"Always."

"Same here," she sighed, leaning her head back against his shoulder. She allowed her feet and legs to float, extending out in front of her while he pulled her around the pool. "This is nice."

"Mmm hmm," he hummed next to her ear.

Goose bumps rose to the surface of her skin. Unfortunately, he also became aware that her nipples hardened forming distinct nubs under the nylon fabric of her bikini top. The cold water prevented the accidental sight from creating an even more embarrassing and uncomfortable problem for him.

"Hey, Kit, what are you planning to do after graduation?" Aunt Riko inquired, kicking her feet lazily.

"I don't know. Mom and Dad want me to go to university. They leave brochures all over the house. I'm looking at few. I don't know what I'd do once I got there," he said, closing his eyes to keep them from wandering back to her chest.

"Well, you don't have to decide everything before you get there. Start with basic classes that you'll need for any degree. Take another class or two of something that might interest you to find out what you want to do," she suggested.

"What if..." He stopped, unsure if he should make the proposal that had been running through his head for months. "What if I traveled with you? Just for a while. I want to find out what the world has to offer. Explore any other options I might have in life. Like you did."

"Naruto," she murmured, extracting herself from his arms to find her footing on the bottom of the pool.

Uh oh. He had the sinking feeling he was about to be treated to a lecture on par with one of his mother's. He averted his eyes from hers, backing away to lean against the side of the pool. Pretending not to care, he dreaded every word about to come out of her mouth.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that. It's important to your parents that you go straight to university. I can't allow - "

"I'll be an adult," he interrupted her, a little angry that she still treated him like a child. He was less than three months away from his eighteenth birthday. She should be treating him like an adult. "I can make my own damn decisions. Besides, what does a year matter? What if I want to take a year off to travel around the world? To be with you a little before life gets even more complicated."

"You're right. You can make your own decisions," she agreed, moving to stand beside him, propping her elbows on the cement apron around the pool. "But I will be working. It won't be like our summer vacations. Plus I travel with a hopeless pervert. I'd rather you not be under that man's influence."

"Speaking of that, have you two ever..." His voice trailed off, leaving the words unspoken but the meaning implied. When she looked at him, he wagged his eyebrows at her. Her tanned cheeks turned dark red.

"Ew, no," she snapped, punching him in the arm. "Oooh," she cooed, squeezing his bicep. "When did you get these?"

Naruto groaned, rolling his eyes. "How many times do I have to remind you? I'm grown up. A man."

"Hmm, that you are," she said, giving him an approving smile. "You'll always be my baby. Even when you're thirty and have babies of your own. The older you get, the more you look like your dad."

"You look like Mom. Except for this." He reached out to pluck at a lock of her hair that had coiled back up into its springlike shape. "I miss your long, dark red hair."

Aunt Riko shrugged. "People change. I guess we both forget that sometimes."

"I don't like change," he mumbled, staring at the sky painted with pastel brush strokes of pink, blue, and peach from the setting summer sun. Their first day together was almost over.

"Me either. But sometimes it's good."

"I suppose," he affirmed grudgingly.

"Hey," she said, nudging him in the shoulder with her elbow. "Let's build a fire in the fire pit. We can roast marshmallows and hot dogs."

"Weenies, huh? You like weenies?"

"Yeah. Big ones. Don't be dirty," she chided him, stifling her giggle into a snort.

"Me be dirty?" he stated with mock offense.

Naruto watched her pull herself out of the pool by placing her hands flat on the concrete and lifting her body upward. The muscles of her upper arms bulged and flexed under her tanned skin. Damn. Her muscle definition was pretty impressive too.

"I think you would be a worse influence than Jiraiya," he commented.

"You're probably right," she admitted, sliding her shorts back on and pulling her tank top over her head. "Go build the fire."

"Yeah. Okay."


	4. Chapter 4

Riko set the tray full of food on the table between the chairs sitting beside the firepit. After uncorking the bottle of wine, she poured herself a glass and sat down. The chair she chose faced into Naruto's room. The wine glass pressed to her bottom lip, but she did not drink when she saw him exit the bathroom in only a towel wrapped around his waist.

Riko knew she should not be staring. He was her nephew for God's sake. Each muscle along his arms and legs stood out in hard defined lines under his skin the same color as a ripe peach. A deep ridge bisected his abdomen and lines divided each muscle into the much sought after six pack. Even the little ridges of muscle on his sides above his ribcage stood out in stark contrast to the smooth muscle surrounding them.

Last year he still looked like a little boy, just a bigger version of the one she used to hold in her arms and carry around on her hip. Dear God what a difference a year makes.

Riko took a big gulp of her wine when he raised his arms, his biceps and triceps flexing, to dry his hair with the towel hung over his head. Apparently he forgot he was standing in front a wall made of glass because he whipped off the towel around his waist and flung it on the bed. Her only saving grace was that his back was turned. But that ass.

"Oh, good god," she gasped, downing the rest of her wine in one massive gulp almost choking on it.

The last time she saw a derriere like that it belonged to a body builder in a competition Jiraiya had taken her to see for research purposes. That damned old pervert. He loved finding new and inventive ways to shock her. She should be over it by now after working with him for eight years, but she wasn't. Oh, the old man would be having the time of his life, laughing heartily, if he could see her at this given second.

Riko jumped up to pour herself another glass of wine, turning her back to the tempting Adonis under glass behind her. She drank half the wine then refilled her glass before sitting down in the chair facing the away from his room. A light ticklish touch on her shoulder almost made her jump out of her skin.

"Hey," Naruto greeted her, sitting down in the chair across from her. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she replied breathily.

He was wearing board shorts the same color of azure blue as his eyes and a notoriously loud Hawaiian shirt with red Hibiscus flowers all over it. He had left the shirt unbuttoned allowing his well built chest and belly to be exposed.

"Hungry?" Riko inquired, skewering a hot dog with the tines of what looked like a massive dual tined fork attached to a wooden handle.

"Always," he returned, taking the roasting stick from her.

"I see you've been busy working out over the last year," she stated, avoiding staring at him. She distracted herself by preparing her own hot dog to cook in the flames dancing about in round firepit made of large stones that had been carefully stacked and fitted together.

"You noticed?" He opened his shirt,inviting her to look as if she had not seen already.

"Impressive," she murmured, emptying her glass.

"I know right?!" he exclaimed proudly. He quietly watched her pour the rest of the wine from the bottle into her glass. "Can I have some?"

"No," she sternly answered, putting the empty bottle on the ground by her chair.

"But why not?" he whined. "You're supposed to be the cool aunt that lets me do things I shouldn't. It's my last summer vacation as a kid. Come on, please."

"I am the cool aunt," she argued, handing him the stick in her hand and snatching the other one out of his. "But I have to draw a line somewhere."

"Hey!" he yelled in protest when she put the cooked hot dog in a bun to prepare it for eating. "That's mine!"

Riko squirted ketchup and mustard on it before handing it back to him. "Here. Enjoy."

"You're right," he said, handing her the stick back. "You are the cool aunt."

"So you've been working out. Training hard with your dad, I guess?" she ventured.

Minato, an expert in several martial arts and owner of a dojo, had started training Naruto at an early age. It both surprised and relieved her that Minato, nor her domineering sister who liked making plans for others, automatically assumed their son would take over the business.

Riko, however, had been different. Most likely because she was a girl and Kushina's baby sister. Her older sister had always mothered her being so much older. The age difference between herself and her sister was the exact same between herself and Naruto, ten years. She loved her sister but many times, she did not understand her.

The family had arranged a marriage between herself and Obito Uchiha. Obito could not be a more desirable husband; handsome and rich, a member of the most influential family in Konoha. Very few women did not want to be a part of that family. Moreover, he had a good sense of humor. He liked to have fun and was fun to be around. He was also ambitious and driven, even as a child. He could be downright cold and calculating at times in his determination to succeed. In plain terms, Obito would have been a great catch.

Riko had been appalled that both families had been willing to institute such an archaic social device. An arranged marriage was like a prison sentence. Not that she would have minded marrying him. But she did not want to be forced to marry him against her will - or his for that matter. Then she met the writer of trashy romance novels when her friend Kakashi took her a book signing. The rest, as the elusive committee of they says, is history.

"Aunt Riko? Auntie?" Naruto's voice filtered through the muddled thoughts in her head from her impromptu trip to the past.

"I'm sorry, Kit," she apologized, pulling her burnt wiener from the flames.

"I can fix you another one," he offered. He was already roasting himself a second hot dog.

"Nah, I actually like them super well done," she returned.

Riko genuinely did like her hot dogs with a little extra carbon on the outside. She dressed the hot dog with only a squirt of mustard. Her stomach churned uncertainly when she took a bite. Dammit. Leave it her overactive brain to take her on an indigestion inducing trip down memory lane.

"What else have you been up to? Any new friends? A girlfriend?" she questioned Naruto with great curiosity.

"Everyone still calls me, Sasuke, and Sakura the three musketeers."

"The three of you were always inseparable."

"There's a new guy named Sai. He's a great artist. I think you would like him since you like all that artsy fartsy stuff. If you visit, you'll have to meet him. Don't be surprised if he asks you to pose nude for him," he added nonchalantly.

"That boy must have caused quite the scandal if he's so bold," she laughed.

"He did for a while but everyone is used to him now." He paused, taking a bottle of soda from the loaded snack tray. "I've been dating Hinata for a few months."

"Oh? The lavender eyed Hyuga Princess? She always did have a thing for you, you know," she stated conspiratorially. "I'm glad the shy little thing finally stopped creeping around in the shadows like a stalker and got up the nerve to talk to you."

"Me too. I really like her," he said, his tanned cheeks blushing the prettiest shade of carnation pink. "She hates it when everyone calls her Princess."

"Well, you have to admit, the Hyuga's are practically royalty in Konoha. Do you think she might be the one?" She passed the bowl of chips to him when he suddenly appeared exceedingly uncomfortable.

"It's too soon to tell. Besides, why is marriage required? You swore you would never get married, didn't you?" he reminded her without any malicious intent but the question still stung her a tad.

"I did, but..." She allowed her words to trail off.

Naruto had no idea the Obito Debacle had taken place a few days before the Pervy Author Calamity. He did not know about the arranged marriage, her refusal, or the awful argument that ensued between herself and her sister. All these years, Riko feared he had heard the screaming match about her working for the erotic novel writer. She definitely did not want to dredge up any further pain of the past by discussing those things with him now. Out of desperation to change the subject, to totally get away from that topic, she asked something truly shocking.

"Are you still a virgin?"

Naruto spewed soda out of his mouth, the brown liquid dotting the front of her dark green t-shirt. At least the stains would not show so badly on the dark color. He coughed and sputtered, gasping for air.

Riko stood up from her chair to go to him. She grabbed his wrists, raising his arms above his head like she did when he was a child and would get choked up. Patting his back, she at least felt like she was helping him whether it did any good or not.

"You could have warned me you were about to ask something like that. You should have asked permission before asking such a personal question," he admonished her in a role reversal as if she were the child.

"You're right. I'm sorry," she apologized, sitting back down in her chair.

"Yes," he said gruffly, clearing his throat and shifting in his chair.

"Well that was rude. You didn't have to agree with me." Riko was sincerely baffled by his defensiveness.

They had always discussed everything without reservation or embarrassment. When his face darkened to a crimson red, she realized he was answering her inquiry rather than changing topic again.

"I like Hinata and all. But I'm just not sure I want her to be my first," he answered truthfully, his embarrassment deepening until his face was nearly purple.

"So who do you want to be your first?"

Naruto remained silent, his face turning a lovely shade of eggplant purple.

"Are you okay? Are you breathing? Are you going to faint?" she asked him in rapid succession, worried about the severe purple coloration of his face.

"What about you? When was the last time you had sex? Don't tell me a woman who looks like you never has sex," he said sternly. He crossed him arms over his chest, poking out his lower lip, and averting his gaze from her in a shameless act of blatant pouting.

"I never said that," she murmured, extending her legs in front of her. "To be absolutely blunt, I've had quite a long dry spell. Like, I don't know, three years? Hell, I wonder if I've forgotten how to have sex." She inhaled deeply, getting her temper under control. It was her turn to be embarrassed. "Do we have to keep talking about this?"

"I guess we shouldn't," he mumbled, his eyes on her feet. "This is new."

Riko stiffened when his hands touched her, his fingers grasping her ankles to pull her feet up into his lap. His forefinger traced the minimalist tattoo of the fox on her right outer ankle. The tattoo had been her Christmas gift to herself last year. A bittersweet reminder of the child she adored but had left behind to pursue a job that became a career. The outline of two pointed ears, a pointed chin, and whiskers comprised the small, black line tattoo.

"A fox?"

"For you of course. You'll be with me always because you mean so much to me."

"The only woman I love more than you is Mom," he confessed, lowering her feet back to the cement.

"I don't want to waste time fighting with you," she said, studying him as he stood up from his chair.

"Me either. I'm sorry."

"Me too."

Riko closed her eyes when he knelt in front her. Her entire body stiffened as his hands slid around her waist to her back, pulling her forward in the chair. Tears formed in her eyes when he pressed his cheek to hers, embracing her tightly with his strong arms.

"I love you so much," he whispered in her ear. "Nothing will ever change that."

"But I ran away from my family. From you," she added, slowly sliding her arms around his wide shoulders. "You were still so little, and I left you."

"I wasn't alone. I had Mom and Dad. But I was hurt and angry. I hated you so much for a while," he confessed. "Then I got scared I would never see you again. But we worked things out, right? The summers with you have been something I'll never forget."

"That makes two of us," she agreed, leaning back to give him a wavering smile.

"Don't worry about what happened back then. The past is the past. Who knows what the future holds. I know one thing for sure," he declared.

"What's that?" She pressed her palms to his whisker marked cheeks, holding his face in her hands like she had a thousand times when he was a small child. This man in front of her was handsome and charming, but she missed her fox kit.

"I can't wait to see what adventures we have this year." He smiled; his patent fox grin so wide it made it eyes squeeze shut.

She chuckled lightly. There was her baby fox.

Leaning closer to him, Riko intended to place a kiss on his cheek. When he angled his head toward her at the last second, her lips caught the corner of his mouth. Her belly tightened when he shivered. Their eyes met after he pulled back from her.

"What is it?" she asked, her eyes shifting apprehensively.

Before she could say another word, Naruto pressed a full on kiss to her mouth. A real kiss. The placement of his mouth was no accident, no slip of the lips. As if suddenly aware of his actions, he lifted his mouth from hers. The kiss had been brief, chaste, not too spectacular but no less astonishing due to its unexpectedness. Their family openly showed affection, lots of hugs and kisses, but this...this was a different kind of kiss. The kiss had not been bad or dirty, or unwanted even, but new and different.

"So uhm, we should get to bed," she suggested, clumsily extracting herself from between her chair and his knees in his present squatting position. "Maybe we can do a little surfing at dawn."

"Awesome! It's a date!" he shouted excitedly, rising to stand up straight.

"Good night," Riko called without turning around to look at him.

"Good night," Naruto returned, sounding a little unsure, possibly confused.

Riko hurried away, almost running, to her room. She snatched a long, oversized t-shirt out of the dresser drawer on her way to the bathroom to change. The bathrooms were the only enclosed spaces in the house offering complete privacy.

Perhaps she should hide in here all night, sleep in the bathtub. She studied the deep, almost six foot long claw foot tub. Oh, yeah, her short frame would fit in there nicely. However, even with a pillow and and blanket, it would not be very comfortable.

Riko had instantly fallen in love with this house when the realtor showed it to her. Her favorite part was the sublime view of the ocean offered by the glassed in backside. Since being here the rising sun gradually awakened her every morning permitting her to greet the day in the most pleasant manner from her bed. At the moment, she found the all glass walls seriously inconvenient.

"You're making a big deal out of nothing," she lectured herself while switching out her shirts. "He was just being affectionate. He's always been an extremely demonstrative kid. Don't blow it out of proportion."

Riko brushed her teeth and washed her face, all the while coaching herself to calm the hell down. Their relationship had changed too. That's all. No big deal. Just a natural shift, an evolution, in their relationship. She was overreacting to an innocent kiss because she could not remember the last time she had been kissed.

Flopping down onto her back on the bed, she stared at the ceiling. The bare metal frame of the canopy bed loomed above her. Tomorrow when they go to the farmer's market she would have to buy fabric to construct some sort of curtain to hang around her bed.

Turning onto her side, her eyes skirted across the darkened pool area to Naruto's room. He walked a short path back and forth at the foot of the bed. Occasionally he ran a hand over his super short hair in obvious frustration. Every time he lifted his arm, his shirt opened to expose his flawless pecs and abs.

Heat blossomed deep in her belly. _Oh, god no. Not him. I can't be attracted to him,_ she thought to herself, closing her eyes again to block out the sight of him.

Her fingers traced her tingling lips, recalling the sensation of his tender, tentative kiss. The mere curiosity of a young man got the best of him. He did not mean anything by it; she was sure of that.

Riko expelled the breath she had been holding. Stressing out, thinking too much, always made her hold her breath without realizing it. She was fine. He was fine. Everything was fine.

~~~~~~~~~\\\/~~~~~~~~

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Naruto growled at himself through his gritted teeth. "Why the hell did I kiss her like that? What was I thinking?"

 _I was thinking she was fucking beautiful and sexy as hell_ , his inner voice supplied the answer helpfully.

Naruto ceased his feverish pacing. A vivid image of her face formed in his mind. Her eyes had been half closed, shiny as glass marbles before she leaned in to kiss him. He had turned his head for some reason, causing her lips to touch his, and resulting in a half kiss on the lips. Those sexy eyes had mesmerized him, putting him under a spell. For a second he forgot who she was. All he could see in front of him was a beautiful woman he wanted to kiss. Dammit! What man wouldn't want to kiss her looking like that?

Aunt Riko had not seemed too upset. His eyes swept across the backyard, gazing into her room. The full moon bathed her in its blue-white light, transforming her into an ethereal and captivating creature. He wanted to go to her but stayed put. She appeared to be sleeping now. Everything would be all right.


	5. Chapter 5

Naruto found a plate of bread, cheese, and fruit waiting for him on the kitchen counter for breakfast. There was a note beside the plate.

 _I'll be at the beach. Here's a little something to get you going this morning. Love you._

Already dressed in a pair of orange board shirts covered in yellow suns, Naruto was ready to head to the beach when he finished the light breakfast that would not make him throw up due to the physical exertion involved in surfing.

On his way across the backyard, he saw the storage shed had been left open for him to retrieve a surfboard. There were several to choose from so he picked the yellow one with red semicircles at the top and bottom.

A set of stairs molded out of cement built into the hill allowed access down to the beach. Naruto could see her upper body in silhouette against the horizon lit up by the round yellow newly dawned sun. She sat on her board, bobbing up and down on the waves, waiting - waiting for a particular kind of wave. He decided to sit down in the sand to observe her ride before going out.

A small wave rolled under her, raising her up then lowering her into the trough of the incoming wave. Apparently she liked this one because she lay down on her board, paddling forward in anticipation of catching it. Her board was sucked backwards toward the crest of the wave as it built under her.

When she started moving forward, Aunt Riko stopped paddling, grabbing the sides of the board in preparation of standing up. A frothy layer appeared on top of the wave before it curled forward, and she jumped to her feet as the tube formed. Then she was off, riding the lip before sinking down the face of the wave into the barrel allowing the water to surround her.

Naruto studied her in fascination as she reached behind her, allowing her hand to skim through the wall of water at her back. Before the wave could break, crashing over her head and pulling her under, she shot out of the barrel to carve through what was left of the waved that folded into itself and rushed toward the shore in a line of foamy white bubbles.

Aunt Riko rode all the way to the shore where she gingerly stepped off onto the shallow foam before it ebbed away. Bending over to pick up the board nearly twice her size, she hefted it under her arm. She was wearing a long sleeve board shirt in an eye popping lime green and a bikini bottom of royal blue that tied at her hips.

A small slip of one of those strings would spell disaster. For her at least. Not for him. Naruto cleared his throat, standing to his feet as she jogged toward him.

"Nice ride!" he yelled when she was close enough to hear him.

"Thanks!" she shouted back over the roar of the ocean. "It's calling you. Can you hear it?"

"Of course I can. I must answer the call!" he exclaimed in a purposely deepened voice. He struck a superhero pose with his hands on hips and face upturned to the sky.

Aunt Riko laughed, long and loud. He loved to make her laugh. Her laugh was unmistakable among laughs. Much like her voice, he would recognize it anywhere even if he could not see her. She expressed true enjoyment, a sincere appreciation of whatever amused her. She censored neither volume nor length, not caring if she offended anyone with her raucous laughter. But here, it was only the two of them and the ocean. Everything was great. If only life could always be like this.

"You ready?" she asked, her body turned toward the ocean, ready to run back into the water.

"Right behind you!" he called back, following her out into the cold water.

After running out a little ways, they threw down their boards and flopped onto them to paddle out and await the perfect, or something close, wave. They did not have to wait long. They spotted it at the same time, but his aunt remained siting, allowing him to take the wave. She had probably been out for at least an hour already, surfing without him.

This wave was a little bit bigger than hers, offering him an exhilarating ride. It had been a year since he had done this, and he had not realized how much he missed it until this moment.

Naruto zigzagged back and forth across the face of the wave, staying in front of the tube. At the end of the ride, he tipped his board upward at the nose, whirling around as if doing a three sixty on a skateboard. Unfortunately, he lost his footing and slipped off the board which shot straight up into the air. He swam backwards under the water, staying safely behind the board so it would not come down on top of him.

Once he surfaced, Naruto pulled the board to him using the line keeping it tethered to his ankle. Climbing aboard, he paddle back to where she waited.

"A little too soon to show off, don't you think?" she admonished him, slapping him across the back of the head.

"Ow!" he yelped, immediately reaching back to rub the soreness out of his skull.

"Practice a bit first, you idiot!" she snapped, her face pinched with anger.

Naruto realized he had terrified her by falling off the board like that then having to dodge the damn thing when it became a projectile. Her fear had quickly turned anger, just like his mother's sometimes did when he did dumb things to endanger life or limb.

"You're right. I'm sorry if I scared you." He stared down at his board, gripping it with his fingers until his knuckles whitened.

"You should be," she muttered. Before the next wave carried her away from him, she parted with a cheery,"See ya!"

Naruto rolled his eyes and chuckled. She could be like a summer thunderstorm: popping up with force and fury, unleashing hell for a short time, then clearing to blue skies, happiness, and sunshine. He watched her perform the same maneuver he had, expertly carving up the wave without falling off her board.

Not fair. She had been on the island for at least a week prior to him and had been practicing, brushing back up on her skills. For all he knew, she had been somewhere surfing the whole time before coming here. For reasons all her own, she always stayed quiet about her whereabouts when she was away from him.

They played on the ocean until the sun rode high in the sky, threatening to burn their skin. Aunt Riko suggested they shower and ride into town for lunch and a trip through the outdoor market.

This place was a full sensory experience, teasing and stimulating the five senses. They ate fish tacos from a food truck located at the entrance leading into the rows upon rows of open air stalls. They sampled colorful fruits, sniffed herbs and spices, pinched and poked vegetables of all colors, sizes, and shapes while picking out items they would like to eat later or incorporate into dishes.

Aunt Riko bought sheer fabrics in the colors of the sea: shades of blue, green, and a mixture thereof, teal and turquoise. These were her colors, always had been. He had associated her with ocean even before their yearly summer beach vacations began. Like the sea, she was beautiful and lovely to behold, a pleasant, calming influence. However, also like the ocean, she could be uncertain and tempestuous.

Naruto thought of Hinata. His sweet princess as his aunt referred to her. Hinata was kind and sincere, despite experiencing an almost debilitating shyness. She harbored an inner strength only those close to her could see.

Hinata was always quiet, predictable, dependable. Slow to anger, in total control of her emotions, he had only seen her lose on temper on extremely rare occasions since they were children - and never without a good reason.

Definitely gorgeous with a big breasts to boot, she lacked nothing of interest in the looks department either. There was no doubt in his mind he was a lucky man to have her because she was the total package. He loved her, but... There was something that prevented him from giving her his complete heart. A part of himself, of his love, he held back, reserved for someone else.

Naruto studied the woman standing in front of him who presently haggled loudly with a vendor over the price of purple and red potatoes. No one but her would be so vocal and passionate about getting a good price on technicolor spuds. He believed that there were times she argued just for the sake of arguing because she enjoyed it.

His eyes moved down to her shoulders where the skin had turned pink and developed freckles from overexposure to the sun. Today the color scheme of her clothes had switched to a white tank top with salmon pink shorts. He liked seeing her in pink because it chiseled off the sharp edges of her personality.

Naruto loved her dearly but sometimes, like her sister, her personality could be a little too much to handle. Somehow that irritating toughness gave the most important women in his life a magnetism that could draw in or repel everyone around them.

At last a deal was made with the purveyor of vegetables. Aunt Riko walked away with a dozen of the potatoes, six of each color, as well as broccoli, onions, and a bunch of multicolored carrots for the same price the farmer had asked for six of the potatoes. Amazing.

Obviously proud of her negotiating skills, the triumphant woman wore a smug grin on her face while the defeated man bagged up the produce. The large, middle aged man with straight jet black hair pulled back in a low ponytail appeared to be positively furious.

"Thank you, Kapono! See you next week," she called with wave as they walked away.

"See ya, Koko!" he returned, smiling broadly showing a set of massive white teeth set in his deeply tanned face.

"You know him?" Naruto asked, casting a backwards glimpse at the man smiling like a Cheshire cat. Minutes ago this guy had looked ready to snap, aggravated to within an inch of losing his temper with his argumentative customer.

"Not in the Biblical sense," she retorted, shifting the multiple bags on her arms.

"Koko? I've never heard anyone call you that nickname. Seems awfully chummy to me."

Naruto dodged before he was forced to endure another slap to the head.

"Oh, you have been working hard. Great reflexes," she complimented him. "What's wrong with you? Are you jealous?"

"No," he shot back, trying not to pout but failing. He could feel his bottom lip jutting out. Sucking in his lip, he held it between his teeth to keep from sulking in front of her.

"Ah, come on, Kit, you're the only man for me," she joked, bumping his leg with her hip.

 _You're the only man for me,_ his inner voice taunted him. _If only..._

"Hey! Want a shaved ice?" she inquired, running ahead.

"Hey, wait!" he yelled after her as she disappeared in the throng of people glutting the wide aisle between the snack stalls.

Naruto sighed dejectedly. That was her in a nutshell: always running away from those she loved. He squared his shoulders and pressed forward. Breaking through the herd of human beings, he saw her waiting in front of the shaved ice stand. His lips tilted into a lopsided grin. Then just like that, she would reappear in his life.

"Here," she said, handing him his treat.

Aunt Riko bounced up and down in her childlike excitement over the mounds of ice crystals. The one she gave him had been tinted green and blue from the green apple and blue raspberry syrups. Hers looked to be cherry and pineapple flavored in colors of red and yellow.

Naruto watched helplessly as she uncomfortably shifted the weight of the shopping bags on her shoulders. He was also loaded down with bags heavy with purchases so he could not help her. He had suggested they return to the Jeep, put the top on, and dump the bags in the back for safekeeping. She did not want to interrupt her shopping. Hard headed woman.

"Over there," she said, pointing with the end of the spoon poking out of her shaved ice cup.

She directed him toward a row of picnic tables where people were sitting and eating their snacks of shaved ice , hot dogs, grilled pineapple and chicken kebabs, or whatever treat they had bought themselves. There was one free table which she quickly claimed by dropping an armful bags on the top before straddling the bench.

"Well, that's ladylike," he commented when she continued to sit sideways on the bench with her legs spread open.

"Oh, shut up," she muttered, swinging her leg across the bench to sit with them together. "Better?"

"I'm a kid. Why in the hell am I having to get on to you for your behavior?" he chided her in one of their typical role reversals.

"Dammit, don't curse," she scolded him.

They laughed like two drunks on a bender. They quieted down to eat their shaved ice before it melted into brightly colored icy sugar water.

"It's like kakigori, isn't it?" he asked before shoving another spoonful into his mouth. He felt a jab of pain in his temple from an imminent 'ice cream' headache.

"Exactly. Next time I'll have to get sweetened condensed milk over it. That makes it taste just like ice cream."

"Sounds delicious."

Another shopping trip? He would surely get a headache then. Not necessarily from the shaved ice.


	6. Chapter 6

Riko lined the washed vegetables up on the counter beside the cutting board to start preparing dinner. After returning to the house, Naruto had brought in all the bags then vanished. His disappearing act did not surprise her. He always had a knack for pulling a Houdini when there were chores to be done.

She was not too concerned. He most likely went surfing again. He would manage to show back up right in time for the meal.

Riko placed the broccoli on the board to chop off the florets. Scooping up the separated florets, she tossed them into the large wooden bowl on top of the mixture of torn lettuces. Salad would be the perfect dinner after an active day spent in the sun.

Bedtime would come early for her tonight. She yawned in exhaustion. Waking well before the dawn, she had anxiously awaited the sun, drinking her coffee and staring toward the east as if she could will it to rise faster.

Last night her dreams had been invaded by a naked blonde. The lewd scenes her subconscious created had to be illegal in some parts of the world. It was not her fault she had an overactive dirty mind. She blamed her chosen career. Naturally those kinds of naughty dreams would occur to her considering she spent almost every damn day reading and writing sexual content.

Riko sighed, picking up a fat orange carrot to slice. An image formed in her mind of Naruto's wide, brawny shoulders. The small muscles in his back had contracted and lengthened with every little move he made. Those rock hard glutes looked as if they had been carved out of marble and belonged on a statue dedicated to an artistic study in the ideal male body. How dare that boy develop the body of a Greek god and immodestly ripped off his towel without a second thought right in front of the glass wall.

"Ow, dammit!" she screeched when a stinging pain in her finger broke through her thoughts.

Blood flowed from the deep cut she inflicted on herself nearly down to her knuckle on her forefinger. Calmly going to the sink, she set the knife in the bottom before turning on the faucet. Rinsing off the copious amount of blood allowed her to see the cut was deep but smooth on the edges. She could easily fix it without an emergency room visit, allowing the edges to knit back together with a little pressure.

"Hey!" Naruto greeted her when he opened the door to the living room. The jubilant smile dropped from his face when he saw her. "What happened?"

"Oh, I got distracted and cut myself," she murmured, pressing her thumb over the wound to hold the skin together.

"How bad is it?" he asked, rushing to her.

"Not bad," she lied.

Her vision grew fuzzy, blackness appearing around the edges of everything. Lack of sleep and food must be causing her dizziness. She did not have a weak constitution or faint at the sight of blood.

"Let me see," he demanded, taking her hands between his. His hands were cold, his fingers shriveled.

"No," she squeaked, forming her hands into one big fist when he attempted to pry them apart. "I can't move my thumb from it anyway or I'll tear open the wound. It will be all right."

He smelled of sea water. Sand clung to his arms and legs.

"Were you surfing?" she inquired, watching his face turn pink.

"Yeah. I bailed on you to catch a few more waves," he confessed. "Sorry."

"No need to apologize. You could have just told me, you know. I totally understand you wanting to get in more time on the water," she mumbled, holding her hands over the sink.

Carefully, Riko peeled away her thumb before it stuck. Just as she had hoped, the edges had sealed. No visit to the hospital today. While washing off the remnants of blood, she slumped against the counter to keep herself from falling when another wave of dizziness crashed over her.

"Let me help you," Naruto demanded, handing her a clean dish towel.

Riko did not protest when he hooked one arm around her shoulders and the other behind her knees to lift her up. She closed her eyes to stop the room from spinning as he took her to the couch to sit her down. He lifted her shoulders to slide a pillow under her head.

"You're something else. You know that?" Naruto grumbled, pulling her feet up onto the couch to put her in a more comfortable position.

"You tell me that a lot. I'm beginning to think it's not a compliment," she sighed, leaning back into the soft pillow. "I'm tired. That's all."

"It has been a long, busy day," he said. "But a good day."

"It was a really good day," she said. Opening her eyes to look at him, she saw the worry in his blue eyes. She forced a smile to her lips. "Hey, I'll be okay. Seriously. I'm tired. That's all."

"All right. If you say so," he muttered, flashing her a big grin. "I'm going to take a shower. I'll be right back."

Riko knew he did not believe her, but at least he did not force the issue. She had no desire to go to the hospital for stitches. The cut would leave a scar, but she did not care. Life had a way of creating many scars, most which could not be seen.

Laying her arm over her eyes, she inhaled a deep breath. She needed to rest her eyes. Just for a minute.

~\\..'../~

The flame shivered as it floated on top of the water. With a hiss and a sputter, white tendrils of steam curled into the air around the fire.

The red, yellow, and orange of the fire reminded her of him. The red of his mother's hair. The color of passion, energy, and power. The yellow of his father's blond mane. The color of sunshine and happiness. In him, they had combined to make an orange child: warm, strong, adventurous, optimistic - a beautiful and mesmerizing culmination of everything good about them.

She was blue and green, the color of water. Her family came from a land of water. She needed it to live which is why she always gravitated toward it no matter where she may be. The sea was tumultuous and unyielding but also soothing and full of life. The ocean is where she found peace and balance. That's why she colored her life with varying shades of the water she loved so much.

The flat, glassy surface of the water rippled, no longer reflecting the flame. The flame split, doubling, then doubled again like reproducing cells. Bubbles rose to the surface of the water and broke as it came to a boil.

The excessive heat dissipated the water, using it up, evaporating it into a cloud. Soon the cloud was gone. The flame withered and died because there was no water to mirror it's beauty and keep it afloat from the nothingness.

She needed him to exist, and he needed her just as much. But if they got too close, they could destroy each other.

~\\..'../~

"Oh, my god," Riko gasped.

Cold droplets of water touched her heated skin. Startled out of the weird dream by the tragic and sad conclusion, she panted for air. The symbolism terrified her. A warning maybe?

 _Stop being so damn dramatic_ , her inner voice fussed at her. It was her job as a romance novelist to be dramatic. It had become a habit that leaked into the rest of her life.

The stinging, freezing drops of water on her face pulled her further out of dreamland into reality. She had to stop having such bizarre dreams. Her eyes fluttered open to see two big summer sky blue eyes staring directly into hers. The water dripped from the tips of his spiky blond hair onto her cheeks.

"Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty," Naruto greeted her.

Riko inhaled sharply when he lowered his face toward hers. After receiving a chaste kiss on the forehead, she exhaled in relief.

"Hungry?" he asked, sliding an arm under her shoulders to assist her with sitting up.

"Not really," she replied, feeling a little queasy.

"Want to go to bed?" When she nodded, he offered, " I can carry you. You can be my queen since I already have a princess."

Riko giggled holding out her arms to him. She slid her arms around his neck when he bent to pick her up again in a princess carry. The heat of his body soaked into hers, warming her up. She had not realized she was so cold.

A sigh passed her lips when he lay her down on the soft mattress, tucking the covers around her.

"I'm supposed to be taking care of you, aren't I?" she asked.

"I don't mind. Besides, it's kind of nice that you're letting me take care of you for a change," he said, sitting on the bed beside her. "You've always been so independent. So stubborn and prideful. You have never allowed anyone to take care of you." He ran his fingers over her tangled mass of curls. "Even when you need it."

Riko held her breath when he leaned over her, stroking her cheek in the same affectionate manner in which she had always touched his face. He placed a tender kiss on her forehead, then each cheek before sitting back up. Then and only then, could she breathe again.

"You were always there for me. I want to be here for you now," he murmured. His fingers drifted down her bare arm raising a trail of gooseflesh in the wake of his feather-light touch.

 _I don't understand what's going on here,_ she thought. The special kind of heat she had only felt in romantic encounters spread throughout her body making her fingertips and toes tingle. _This isn't right. This can't be happening. Not with him. Not him!,_ she screamed internally.

"Not my baby," she whispered aloud without meaning to do so.

"I'm not your baby anymore," he returned despite the fact she had not directed the words to him but herself.

"Yeah, she gulped. "I'm aware."

"Is that all you're aware of?"

 _Goddamit, no!,_ she wanted to scream at him. And apparently, she was not the only one who had picked up on the new and inexplicable vibe between them.

"You should get some sleep," he declared, standing up suddenly. "Don't worry about the mess in the kitchen. I'll eat and clean up. Good night."

"Good night, Kitsune," she responded, rolling onto her side away from the door.

Riko waited for the click of the door being closed behind him. She tried to relax, breathing slowly and deeply. Somehow they would have to learn how to handle these incomprehensible feelings. But how?


	7. Chapter 7

Naruto saw her standing at the counter cutting an apple. Immediately every muscle in his body tightened into knots. His muscles started to unwind while observing her confident hand grasping the apple half while the the other swiftly made v shaped indentations of graduated lengths and depths parallel to each other. His eyes took in every movement of her nimble fingers when she set the apple half on a plate sliding the carefully scored pieces back until they formed what looked like wings.

One of his fondest memories of his childhood were the snacks she made for him. Aunt Riko would fashion fruits and vegetables into the most fantastic creations he had ever seen. Swans, spiders, fish, dragons, all sorts of beasts both real and imagined, were served to him on a plate, and he ate them all. It was the one way he would eat healthy food in favor of ramen and desserts. Without her sculpting, he turned his nose up at the fruits and vegetables, deeming them yucky.

"Fun with food so early in the morning?" he inquired, stepping into the kitchen to stand beside her.

She did not answer which meant she was 'in the zone,' her special creative mental space where she retreated to maintain total focus. She proceeded to attach the head and neck to the wings and body.

"There," she said, holding out the cerulean blue plate to him with the fully formed apple swan in the middle.

"Good morning to me," Naruto said, taking the plate from her. "It's gorgeous and elegant. Like you."

Pink coloration tinted her face and continued creeping down her neck and up to the tips of her ears. Her turquoise eyes sparkled showing how much his sincere compliment pleased her.

He liked flirting with her as if she were any other pretty woman he might encounter. For years he had made clumsy efforts, trying to make his deepest feelings for her known. In response to his bumbling but heartfelt attempts, she would utter an off handed 'that's precious' or 'aren't you adorable' before patting him on the head. Patting him on the head! Only cute puppies should receive a pat on the head.

"Want a traditional breakfast this morning? It's been a while since I've had one myself. I bought a type of fish called Ono," she said, setting about pulling out a skillet.

"Oh no?" he asked, repeating it as she had pronounced it but slower.

"Ono, not oh no," she corrected cramming the syllables together instead of separating them into two distinct words. "It means good to eat in Hawaiian."

"I hope so," he muttered, munching on his apple. "I'm starving."

"You're always starving. You've been ravenous since you were born," she chuckled. "I remember when you were barely over a year old, you snatched the spoon out of my hand and started yelling at me 'me do!' because you wanted to feed yourself. Apparently I wasn't going fast enough."

Naruto laughed along with her. He always enjoyed hearing her stories about him. She told them with such fondness and love. She often amused herself as well as him while reminiscing, giving them both a reason to giggle.

A random memory popped into his head. Naruto was about four. Aunt Riko was sitting at the low table in the living trying to do her homework. At the time, he was greatly offended she was ignoring him and making something else a priority. He hugged her arm which she put around him, holding him to her side but doing nothing else.

Not wanting to stay still he broke away, running and expecting her to follow to play with him. When she did not come to find him, he stomped back to her, boldly stepping up to kiss her on the cheek. A kiss always won her over. She absentmindedly returned the peck then went back to her book.

Then he proceeded to get serious about his bid for her attention. He climbed onto her back, sliding off to the floor, then climbed the Mountain of Formidable Dismissal again. This time he lost his footing, kicking her in the ribs and seizing two handfuls of her long lustrous locks the same color of the red ripe apple he was eating in the present.

Aunt Riko screamed. He finally had her attention. She started yelling for his mom to come get him.

 _"Sissy, Sissy!"_ he caterwauled, his tiny fists opened and closing as he reached for her while being pulled away. He still remembered how hurt he had felt when she did not even look at him as he was taken away.

Maybe it was good she left in the middle of the night when she ran away. He could not have handled being ignored like that again especially in the wake of her devastating abandonment.

Presently, Naruto's attention lowered to her rear end that wiggled from side to side as she briskly stirred the miso soup after adding the bonito flakes. A devilish grin tilted his lips. He wondered what it would take to get her attention now.

Tiptoeing to the kitchen, he edged toward her, standing so close he could feel her body heat but was not touching her. Patiently he waited for a reaction. She ignored him. Dammit.

Undaunted, Naruto followed closely behind her when she took the rice to the sink to wash it. He propped his chin on her shoulder, turning on the faucet to fill the bowl she poured the rice into. Sliding his hands down her arms, he put his hands over hers to slosh the rice around until the water turned a milky white. He removed his hands so she could dump rice into the colander and rinse it under the tap.

"You did this when you were little," she said, a soft smile lifting the corners of her lips. "But back then, you stood on a step stool beside me."

"I'm not a little kid anymore," he reminded her. She needed to be reminded of that a lot.

"Here," she murmured, pushing the bowl into his hands. Lowering her body straight down, she ducked under his arm, escaping from him. "Could you do this for me? I need to check on the soup and start the vegetables."

"Of course," he returned, feeling the heat of embarrassment covering her face. If she noticed him blushing, she did not say anything. She had a way of being tactful, sparing his feelings, even when running away from him.

"What do you want to do today? A little surfing, go to the boardwalk, shopping - "

"Definitely no shopping!" he answered a bit too emphatically.

"Okay, okay," she laughed. "I get it."

"I don't know. I was thinking maybe just a swim in the pool. Relaxing in the sun. A walk on the beach at sunset," he ventured.

"Sounds lovely. I love sunsets," she said wistfully, tossing the veggies into the skillet. "Would you help me with a little project after breakfast?"

"No problem. What is it?" He put the rice into the cooker and added water.

"I need help hanging the material I bought around my bed. I thought it would be pretty to make like curtains, you know, instead of just having that bare, ugly iron frame there." Her arm brushed his when she passed him to go to the cabinet to get a bowl. Standing on her tiptoes, she strained to reach the big green bowl on the second shelf.

"Good idea." He effortlessly reached above her, purposely allowing his fingers to glide along the back of her hand, to get the bowl for her. He sat it on the counter before leaning against the rounded edge of the counter top to watch her saute the mix of green beans, carrots, and asparagus.

"I'm going to feel like a mermaid sleeping in her bed under the sea," she said, exhibiting childlike excitement.

"You're just too damn cute sometimes," he laughed, picking a piece of carrot out of the pan.

"Hey!" she snapped, popping the back of hand with the wooden spoon.

"Ow! Shit," he hissed, massaging his injured hand. "You still know how to brandish a wooden spoon like a torture device."

"You gave me lots of practice you mischievous little turd. You were always getting into something. You would set your mind on something and come hell or high water, or my wooden spoon," she added, shaking it in his face, "you were going to have whatever you wanted."

"Not much has changed," he admitted, popping the carrot into his mouth.

Naruto wondered if she understood the deeper meaning of his words. By the way her back stiffened, he guessed she did. He lay his hand on her shoulder, and she did not pull away. Perhaps that was a good sign. She must be growing accustomed to his flirtatious touches. She quickly stepped to the left, out of his reach, his hand falling away from her. Then again, maybe not.

~\\..'../~

"Spread your legs and let me stick my head between them," Naruto ordered her.

Aunt Riko burst out laughing: a noisy, donkey braying guffaw. "That sounded a hell of a lot dirtier than you meant it."

Naruto's face burned with embarrassment. How much humiliation could one person bear before spontaneously combusting? Actually the statement had sounded much nastier than he had intended, but damned if it didn't sound like a good idea meant that way.

"Are you done?" he inquired when her laugh had devolved into snorting. "Do you want me to help you do this or not?" he demanded hotly.

"All right, all right," she sighed, picking up the roll of Kelly green chiffon. "Get down on your knees."

"How many times have you said that to a man?" he inquired, half interested in a sincere answer.

"More times than you need to know," she replied with a wink.

Scalding hot anger made his blood boil. The more insidious emotion of jealousy slithered into his gut making him feel slightly queasy.

Naruto knelt down in front of her like a knight bowing before his queen. Apparently, she with her quick wit caught on to the humorous possibilities when she used the bolt of fabric like a sword gently tapping him on one shoulder then the other.

"I dub thee Sir Naruto," Aunt Riko announced in her best British accent which was still quite terrible.

"Will my lady mount thy faithful knight as a noble steed?" he asked, allowing the double entendre to sink in. Seeing her turn the same flaming red color as her t-shirt was quite satisfying. Paybacks were hell.

Naruto lowered his head as she walked around behind him. She did indeed begin to mount his shoulders, placing her free hand on top of his head before she swung one leg over his left shoulder. His heart slammed into his rib cage as if trying to break free. Every muscle in his body seized when her fingers grabbed hold of his hair, pulling lightly until his scalp prickled.

"Holy fuck!" he grunted, shocked by the pleasure that rushed through his body like an adrenaline surge.

"Seriously, dude, watch your mouth," she scolded him, hopping and swinging her right leg over his shoulder.

"You're going to kill me," he warned her, struggling to keep himself in check as the warmth from between her legs sank into the back of his neck.

"I'm not that heavy," she growled, tightening her legs around his neck.

Naruto reached up, clamping both of his hands over her thighs thick with muscle. He patted her right thigh in the same manner of a wrestler tapping out of a headlock; a silent request for her to loosen up her grip. She opened her knees allowing him to breathe. However, this offset her balance, and she almost fell off. Her bare feet hooked around his sides to offer them both better stability.

Gathering strength in his legs, Naruto carefully stood up, weaving back and forth. It wasn't her weight that was making carrying her on his shoulders difficult to handle. It was being so close that special part of her anatomy that defined her as a female.

He held on to her thighs as she unrolled the fabric down to floor then looped it over the metal bar. Swaying side to side like a tightrope walker, he somehow stayed standing under her large, sweeping arm gestures that moved her entire body. He wondered if he would make it as she repeated the process of draping the various lengths at uneven intervals along the metal frame.

When she was done, the filmy green fabric looked like pieces of seaweed set out to be dried. Aunt Riko occasionally indulged in arts and crafts and was good at it. She liked making pretty things. From the act of making a swan out of an apple or evoking strong emotions from words, she excelled in making something beautiful.

"Do you want me to get down to get the next roll?" she asked.

"Next roll?"

Naruto's eyes slid over to the corner where three more bolts of chiffon in the colors of royal blue, baby blue, and light mint green waited to be used. He groaned. Then he decided it might be fun to continue this improvised circus act.

Walking to the corner, he lowered his body, his fingers digging into her thigh to hold her steady, as he reached for the roll of pastel blue. He handed it up to her, letting go when she tugged on it. Success! They repeated the processes until all of the fabric had been used.

Naruto carefully lowered his body to a kneeling position, allowing her to dismount his shoulders. He watched her as she pushed the thin, see-through strips of chiffon aside to lie down on the bed. The curtain she fashioned looked like water and seaweed surrounding the bed; her undersea retreat on land just as she wanted.

"Very nice. I like it," he murmured, running his fingers along the silky draped material.

Naruto gazed at her through the sheer fabric as she lay on the bed, her eyes focused on the ceiling. She was not wearing anything particularly sexy; a loose red t-shirt and denim shorts with long frayed edges hanging down. He could see the black straps of her bikini underneath tied around her neck. Somehow, she appeared so appealing slightly obscured, hidden but not hidden, behind the curtain. Her lotus pink lips parted and the tip of her bubblegum pink tongue darted out to moisten them, leaving behind a glossy film of saliva.

An uncomfortable heaviness formed deep in his belly. A throbbing began under the weight in the pit of his abdomen and spread lower. His hand pushed into the curtain, a strip of pale blue material clinging to his fingers. He reached for her cheek, the material covering the lower half of her face like a veil.

Naruto paused when her eyes met his. The gravity of her tugged at him, pulling him forward. Her magnetism drew him closer until he leaned over her. His face hovered above hers, his mouth positioned so close to hers he could feel her breath on his lips. Her black eyelashes fluttered down to rest upon her tanned and lightly freckled cheeks as if offering an invitation of a kiss.

An electrical charge skittered up his spine when his lips contacted hers through the smooth material. There was something stimulating yet tragically profound about the thin barrier separating their lips; a physical representation of the social and familial taboo that would always be an impediment to the new feelings growing inside them.

He lifted his mouth from hers. She could not very well scoot away from him this time because the upper half of his body pinned hers down to the bed. His eyes met hers seeing not only acceptance of his kiss but yearning for another.

When she lifted her chin, her lips pouting, pleading for his kiss, Naruto consented wholeheartedly. A powerful jolt of sexual longing slammed into his belly like a sucker punch when he pressed his lips to hers.

The softness of the gossamer obstruction between them, created a slight tickling sensation. There was something alluring about the delicious gentle friction, of their being so close yet still being separated. Her chest raised under his, her small but firm breasts pushing against him. He could feel her stiff nipples through the layers of fabric which drew him deeper into yearning like being caught in an undertow in the ocean.

Suddenly, Naruto could not breathe, the oxygen being stolen away from his lungs by her crushing inertia. He broke the kiss, inhaling sharply before he drowned.

"Kitsune, are you okay?" Aunt Riko asked, her eyebrows drawn together with concern. She sat up, the material falling away from her face and breaking the spell that had nearly suffocated him.

"I'm fine," he mumbled, running his hand over his face in frustration. At last he was getting what he wanted. And it scared the hell out of him. "Are you ready for that swim?"

"Definitely," she responded, sitting up beside him. Her lips brushed his bare shoulder with an apologetic kiss making his entire body tingle. "I think we both need to cool off."


	8. Chapter 8

"Race you!" Riko exclaimed, hopping off the bed. Her forced conviviality was to add levity to the situation that had grown far too serious.

She opened the glass sliding door in her room leading out to the covered patio. The cool sea breeze hit her in the face making her inhale its damp saltiness. She felt a little lighter, the burden on her heart lifting just a little. Stepping outside, the refreshing air cooled her body that he had heated with a kiss.

Stripping off her t-shirt, she carelessly tossed it onto the nearest chair. She unbuttoned and unzipped her shorts allowing them to fall to her ankles before kicking them off onto the same piece of furniture. She casually loped toward the pool, resisting the urge to keep running.

Guilt tore through her like a knife. She should have pushed him away, turned her head, told him him no - done something, anything, to stop it. But, to be quite honest, she had not wanted to stop him from kissing her.

When his lips had met hers, the logical part of her brain had screamed her, _No! You can't do this! He's your nephew! He's like your little brother! Your child even! You can't! You mustn't!_

The illogical side of her, the romantic part of her brain, screamed louder. Her sensual, exploratory nature overruled her rationale. Forbidden fruit always tastes the sweetest. _Take a taste. You know you want to. Kiss him. See what it's like._ _What could it hurt?_

 _What could it hurt?_ The question repeated in her head. Was she hurting him? She was not acting against his will, forcing him to do anything he did not already want to do. If anything, she was merely reacting to his advances.

He was curious. That's all. Even as a child Naruto had been endlessly inquisitive about everything. He was eager to learn, quick to try new experiences. Was she just another experiment? A sexual escapade to be had just for grins and giggles?

Riko stood at the edge of the pool, staring into the clear blue water the same intense blue color of his eyes. Glancing behind her, she saw him standing in the open doorway of her room.

Naruto's cheeks were flushed a deep red, intensifying his beautiful eyes. He had removed his shirt which now lay on her bed. Already properly dressed in dark blue swim trunks, he was ready for a swim. Yet he continued to stand there, staring intently at her.

Riko shifted from foot to foot made nervous by his intense scrutiny. Simpering like a shy girl, raising her hand, she beckoned him to come to her with a wave.

"Come on! Hurry up!" she yelled.

"Okay. Just remember you asked for it," he warned her.

When Naruto ran at her full speed, Riko immediately knew she had made a mistake. Instead of wasting time and precious air by screaming, she inhaled deeply when his strong arm bulging with muscles caught her at the waist. Being pushed and pulled at the same time, she fell backwards into the pool with him. Her arms enclosed his neck, hanging on to him as their bodies cut through the cold water before he kicked off the bottom to push them to the surface.

Riko dropped her arms from around his neck, turning her back to him, and swimming away. Swimming laps would work off the tension inside of her while allowing any awkwardness that might ensue between them to disperse. Slicing through the water with her arms and legs, she hoped to free her body and her mind from the lustful chains binding them.

 _It's wrong to think such thoughts and have such impulses toward someone to whom I'm so closely related. He's simply experiencing a new and different level of sexual curiosity. People venture into all types of sexual experimentation. Hell, I've wrote about most of them. But this, this is different. This is Naruto,_ her mind hurtled forward down its present track of thought like a runaway freight train.

Riko opened her eyes when she turned her head to the side to inhale air. She saw that Naruto was swimming laps next to her, pacing her, staying with her. Closing her eyes, her head rotated away from him. She slammed her hand down into the water, propelling herself along. Attempting to go faster, she kicked hard to add more force as she cupped her hand and shoved the water away from her.

When she reached the edge of the pool to turn around, Riko opened her eyes to see he was still beside her. She could not go faster than him despite trying her hardest. He stayed right with her no matter how hard she tried to get away from him.

Naruto had always been like that toward her. Sometimes he had literally held on to her apron strings and followed her around. At first she had found his attachment endlessly annoying. Later his incessant clinging to her became endearing.

And now? Well, she was not quite sure how to classify his present fascination with her or her response to this more intimate infatuation.

 _But why is it wrong? Because the elusive committee of they says so? Where are_ _they_ _when I'm alone or hurting or need the ones I love? Where will they be the next time I'm crying myself to sleep and need a pair of strong arms to hold me? What if I need soft, sweet lips to comfort me with a kiss? Who are they to say this is unnatural? Or that I'm a pervert? I don't know. I don't understand._

Riko stopped swimming. Her muscles throbbed and burned. A lump of emotion choked her before releasing in the form of tears. Her intrusive thoughts were becoming too much. Her brain formulated too many questions but gave her no answers to bring relief to her aching heart and conscience.

Riko sobbed like a child without holding back. She had restrained enough of her emotions as far as she was concerned and wailed with the conviction of a wolf crying to the moon.

 _Hear my plea and help me_ , she wanted to cry. One person answered the call.

"Breathe," Naruto murmured in her ear. "Just breathe. Everything will be okay."

Riko quieted as his arms enclosed her body in a backwards hug, holding her trembling form against his chest. Her outburst of sadness must have scared the hell out of him.

"I-I'm s-sorry," she stuttered, struggling to regain control after giving in to her shameless crying fit.

"Don't apologize," he said, holding her tighter when her body would not stop shaking.

Riko allowed herself to be led to the steps of the pool where he assisted her with exiting to be taken straight to the hot tub. She sank down into the hot water, sighing with relief as the heat penetrated her sore muscles. The heat also eased the bone deep chill inside of her that she would swear froze her straight to her heart.

Riko became aware of the tears continuing to stream down her cheeks when she licked her salty lips. She avoided looking at his face not wanting to see pity in his eyes.

"I don't know why I'm crying like this." Her breathing hitched, preventing her from speaking. She shuddered, her breaths coming in a series of wheezing inhales due to her fervent crying.

"I do," he said, pulling her into his arms. "It's my fault. I should be apologizing to you. I overstepped a boundary I shouldn't have. I'm sorry."

"It's not all your fault," she countered, holding his face between her hands. She tried to make him look at her, to see his eyes, but he stubbornly kept his chin down.

"It is! It is all my fault!" he argued with her, finally raising his eyes to meet hers. "If I hadn't kissed you, you wouldn't have freaked out."

"That's not the problem," she assured him in a calm voice hiding the storm of emotions still roiling inside of her. "The problem is," she paused, taking her hands away from his cheeks and backing away to sit down on the tiled seat of the hot tub. "I wanted it. I shouldn't. But I did."

"Is it wrong if we both want the same thing?" he asked, sitting down across from her.

"I don't know."

"So what do we do? How do we handle this?"

"I don't know that either."

"Are you ashamed? Do you think it's dirty? Perverted?" Naruto questioned her. Apparently he received his answer when she averted her gaze and turned red. "Yeah, you do."

"But it's not normal. These feelings," she stated in a low voice, almost whispering.

"Who's to say what's normal? Look at our lives. Look at your life now. Would any of that be deemed as normal or typical? And is it bad?" he interrogated her, the questions coming in rapid fire succession without allowing her to answer. "To some it may not be normal but to us, that's just the way it is. And we're happy."

Riko could not argue with him. He was correct in everything he said. A normal childhood would have been if she had stayed at home with her parents instead of volunteering to live with her sister and take on responsibility beyond her years.

If she had fulfilled the role expected of her by society and family, she would have married Obito Uchiha and had children of her own. She would be a housewife and a mother. Not that those are bad things, but a life like that had not been her dream for her future at all.

"Do you remember when I used to tell you I could never love anyone like I love you?" he asked, moving over to sit next to her.

Riko finally risked a glimpse at him. Her eyes scanned his face but avoided connecting with his. She chuckled lightly at the memory of his sweet little face staring up at her after she read him a bedtime story and kissed him goodnight.

 _"Auntie, I love you the best of anyone in this whole wide world,"_ he would say so sincerely it made her want to cry. She knew that was spoken with the obvious exception of his mother. _"Someday I want to marry you so we can be together forever."_

 _"Marry me? But Naruto, don't you think you will find someone else you'll want to marry? Someone you will love more than me?"_ She would smile down at him, thinking what a silly thing for a child to say.

 _"Uh uh,"_ he protested, shaking his fluffy blond head, his mind already made up _. "I will never love anyone the way I love you."_

Naruto was certainly right about that. At a time when most little boys found girls of any age yucky, he followed her around like a love sick puppy.

Riko remembered pitying him in a way because he did not understand. Not knowing how relationships work yet, he believed that when you love someone with all your heart, you marry them. His father married his mother because he loved her. It was natural. It's just what you do when you love someone.

Riko focused on him in the present. No longer a child, not quite a man. Having a limited but simultaneously broader understanding of the different kinds of love between a man and woman, she could see he would say he loved her and still mean it as sincerely as he did when he was six years old.

"Did you ever think that maybe this is simply a natural progression of our relationship? That it's meant to be different than anyone else's?" he insisted, his voice rising in pitch with the hope that she would see from his point of view. "You've been so many different things to me in our lives. A mom, a sister, a best friend..." He ceased speaking and winked, nudging her in the arm with his elbow. "The cool Aunt."

"A lover?" she added, her entire body heating until she feared she might faint.

Reaching behind her, Riko hauled herself out of the hot tub to sit on the smooth cement edge but left her legs from the knee down to dangle in the water.

When Naruto pushed apart her knees, inserting his body between her thighs, she realized she had made a critical mistake in judgment by not getting up and walking away entirely. She coached herself to breathe, deeply and slowly when he placed his hands flat on the concrete by her behind. His mesmerizing eyes captured hers with their intense gaze.

"I suppose that's up to you," he answered diplomatically, daring to give her his squint eyed, toothy fox grin.

 _Oh, damn you, you clever little shit._ For one so young, he had become a disturbingly good player in the relationship games. The responsibility of the final decision, to pursue an escalation in their relationship, to change how they viewed and interacted with each other forever, rested heavily and solidly on her shoulders.

The broad smile slowly melted from his lips while his eyes gradually returned to their normal state of being wide open and round. He viewed everything in the world with a childlike innocence. He often oversimplified the most complicated matters. He believed everything would work out fine no matter what the issue may be. She believed he chose not to see the far reaching implications of some decisions. Present dilemma most definitely included.

"You've never had a problem going after what you want before. What's the hold up now?" Naruto asked.

"Because I don't want to do something to alienate you and cut you completely out of my life. I regret leaving home the way I did, abandoning you like a coward," she confessed. She ran her fingers through his super short, silky soft hair. "I missed so much of your life. I don't want to lose you completely."

"You'll never lose me," he assured her, placing a delicate kiss on her lips. "No matter what you do. No matter how many times you run away."

Her lips tingled from the gentle contact.

"I love you. Always have. Always will," he said with the same genuine emotion he always put behind those words.

Her stomach churned with boiling hot emotions while her eyes held his. Her gaze shifted lower to his lips. They were red, wet, swollen, begging for a kiss.

She gave in to the temptation wreaking havoc on her physically and emotionally. Kissing him forcefully, acquiescing to her yearning, pushing aside her doubts, she rushed headlong into the endeavor she feared most at the moment.

~~~~~~~~~\\\/~~~~~~~~

 _Oh, my god, this is it!,_ Naruto thought as she kissed him with the passion he longed for. His hands tangled themselves into her hair, holding her head in case she changed her mind and decided to pull away. Not this time. He would not allow her to run away so easily.

She did not pull away from him. Quite the opposite. Her tongue tentatively passed through his parted lips. He moaned into her mouth when her tongue retreated, pleading with her to come back.

Once again, she surprised him. Riko boldly thrust her tongue into his mouth, seeking his. When his tongue moved, stroking across hers, he received a moan that made him harden in an instant. His fingers freed themselves from her wet mass of curls to glide down her neck.

Their tongues sinuously twined around each other in a half hearted battle for dominance. Neither one actually wanted to be in control of the other, and definitely not themselves, at this moment.

The same drowning sensation seized him again, squeezing his chest. Naruto ripped his mouth from hers, panting for air. Her chest rose and fell with her deep breathing, her breasts grazing his bare chest. Grasping the back of her head, he pulled her forward to embrace her, wrapping a protective arm around her waist to hold her more securely.

"I once heard that life should be measured in moments that take your breath away," he said, tracing her jawline with his forefinger. "Every moment with you takes my breath away."


	9. Chapter 9

Hello all! Just a little warning, this is the chapter where the story earns its M rating for something besides language and hints and allegations. Thank you to my reviewers, especially maxridelover. Please enjoy and happy reading!

* * *

 _"I once heard that life should be measured in moments that take your breath away. Every moment with you takes my breath away."_

A philosopher and a poet. Such profound words spoken so sincerely Riko could not get them out of her head. Round and round they cycled through her brain on an endless loop.

She carefully packed the cheese and crackers, strawberries and cream, bottles of water for him and bottle of wine for her in the picnic basket. Folding the blue and white plaid blanket, she lay it over her arm. Naruto waited for her on the beach to watch the sunset.

The wind had picked up in front of the clouds gathering in the east. Thankfully the storm clouds would not ruin their sunset.

On her way down the stairs to the sand, Riko could see him standing at the edge of the ocean. He was wearing his swim trunks with a blue hoodie. She had pulled on her favorite oversized lime green sweatshirt with a pouch on the front.

Riko spread out the blanket, sitting down facing the west. She took out the bottle of wine and her stemless wine glass. Twisting off the cap, she poured herself a glass full of the ruby red liquid. She was not a wine snob who insisted only good wines required a cork. Corks were a pain in the ass and impractical when imbibing on picnics anyway.

Naruto sat down beside her, reaching into the basket for one of the bottles of water. Glancing at her face then at her glass, he observed her quietly as she took a sip.

"Can I taste it?" he inquired, leaning toward her until his shoulder pressed into hers.

Riko extended the glass toward him. She watched as he took the glass then set it down on the blanket, creating a little hollow in the sand under it so it would not tip over and spill.

"What are you - " Her words were cut off when his mouth covered hers.

His tongue touched her lower lip, and her lips automatically parted in response. Her tongue met his pushing back into his mouth so he could gently suck her wine soaked tongue to get a good taste and sate his curiosity.

"Mmmm," he hummed with satisfaction. He sat back and opened his eyes. "Nice."

"I brought a few snacks," she announced, picking up her wine glass.

"You have a wonderful way of making the most mundane events a major life experience," he said, reaching into the basket for the strawberries and bowl of whipped cream. "Life is never boring with you."

"You have such an amazing way with words," she returned, scanning the darkening eastern sky behind them.

Lightning zigzagged in a white streak across the flat black clouds. Thunder rumbled ominously, a harbinger of the impending storm.

"You know, if we do this, if we start down this path, there's no going back to the way we were, the way things are now. This will forever change things between us," she warned him.

"I know. But does that have to be a bad thing?" he countered, his eyes meeting hers.

"I just don't see how - "

"Hey," Naruto interrupted, pointing at the sunset. "You're missing it."

The sky was on fire in shades of scarlet, orange, and yellow. The sun had transformed into a round red ball. The colors of passion, desire, anger, love - intense, powerful emotions. And danger.

Riko drank her wine while gazing at the fabulous artistry of nature like one studies a painting in an art gallery. See beauty in everything. Find happiness where you can. Don't worry about tomorrow. The future will take care of itself. Everything works out. Once those were the mantras she lived by.

When had she stopped living life moment to moment? Not too along ago she had never shunned an opportunity for happiness. The most incredible, memorable experiences in her life were also the unforeseen ones that caught her unawares, presenting themselves to be seized before they slipped away - never to be had again.

The sea breeze grew stronger, chilling her. Riko stuffed her hands into the pouch of her sweatshirt.

"We should get back to the house," she suggested, rolling forward onto her knees in preparation to stand up.

"You feel it too?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she sighed. "There's a storm coming."

* * *

~\\..'../~

Just before midnight, the storm broke. Lightning illuminated her room with its white-blue brilliance. The thunder clap that followed shook the house. The raindrops on the metal roof made a _tink, tink, tink_ sound when they started to fall.

Riko opened her eyes, watching the fantastic light show of dozens of lightning strikes racing across the black sky. Thunder rumbled low and long before dying away only to begin again a few seconds later.

Naruto hated thunderstorms as a child. What kid doesn't? She recalled telling him the same story Kushina had told her when the noise and fury of nature would frighten her out of her sleep.

 _"The angels are bowling,"_ Riko had told Naruto, holding his trembling little body tighter to hers.

 _"What? You're lying,"_ the agitated five year old hissed incredulously.

A flash of lightning scared him, making him hide his eyes, burying his face between her breasts in the soft folds of her cotton nightgown.

 _"Listen closely,"_ she instructed him before the thunder started.

The initial boom sounded exactly like a heavy bowling ball smacking the wooden floor. The following rumble mimicked the ball rolling along the highly polished wood of the lane. Another crash of thunder perfectly recreated the sound of the ball striking the pins.

 _"Wow. It does sound like bowling,"_ he breathed. Her words had sparked his childish fascination. The next bolt of lightning made him gasp. _"What's that?"_

 _"That is God's flash going off when he takes your picture,"_ she explained.

 _"Oh, okay."_ The child had been sufficiently soothed with the silly explanation and fell asleep in her arms.

Riko smiled, closing her eyes. Such a sweet memory. She had always found thunderstorms oddly comforting, perhaps because he was always there in her arms. Growing drowsy, her ears almost missed the slight rustling of his movements when he entered her bedroom. Apparently, she would not be sleeping alone during this thunderstorm either despite his outgrowing his childish fear quite a few years ago.

Riko pretended to be asleep as he pulled back the sheet to slip underneath. Her heart quickened when he fitted his body to hers, spooning her affectionately. Lightning lit up her room causing her to jump.

"God just took your picture," Naruto whispered in her ear. "Were you smiling?"

Riko chuckled self-consciously. Of course he still remembered that stupid story. Oh well, it had certainly done the trick of preventing him from being afraid of storms. Him climbing into bed with her tonight had nothing to do with being fearful. He was simply seizing his opportunity.

She remained still in his arms, waiting for his next move, contemplating what he might do. For several minutes, he held her, his hand pressed flat to her belly. His lips grazed the back of her neck as if testing her acceptance. When she did not protest, she received several kisses in a line down her neck from her earlobe to her shoulder sparking the long dormant sexual desire inside of her.

Riko sighed when his large hand, fingers splayed wide, glided upward. More tender kisses on her neck turned the spark into a flame. Anticipation of where he intended to touch her made her squirm. His hand covered her breast, squeezing, bringing forth a moan from her lips.

Naruto pressed into her making her aware of his excitement, hard and pulsating on her behind. His forefinger and thumb pinched her nipple sending a surge of pleasure throughout her body. She writhed in his arms, creating a delicious friction that made him groan.

Arousal rising, growing frustrated, and wanting more, Riko rolled over to face him. Her lips found his, kissing him hungrily. Her hands roamed over his chest luxuriating in the silky feel of his smooth skin under them. His contracted nipple scraped against her palm before her thumb stroked across it making him moan, low and deep in his throat. The steadily burning flame flared into a roaring fire from the erotic sound.

Riko closed her eyes, relishing the prickling sensation left in the wake of his fingers gliding across her ribs, pushing up the t-shirt to reveal her breasts. His warm breath heated her skin when his mouth blazed a trail to her chest. Her entire body throbbed with yearning when his wet tongue lapped over her painfully taut nipple. Groaning, arching her back, she shoved her nipple into his open mouth. His lips willingly closed around the stiff flesh, sucking gratefully. Her fingers gripped his head, her cheek rubbing across the softness of his hair while unbridled carnal delight spread setting her entire body ablaze.

Riko opened her mouth and moaned loudly when his hand pushed against her underwear, rubbing her through the material. She carefully slid her knee between his, pressing her thigh against the bulge under the thin cotton of his shorts. Her nipple popped free from his mouth when opened it to issue a groan. She pushed him over onto his back, straddling his hips. His hands tunneled further under her shirt, pushing it up her arms and over her head. Her arms wrapped around his neck when he sat up to kiss her. His fingers skimmed over her belly raising goosebumps before hooking over the top elastic of her panties.

"How far do you want to go?" Naruto inquired, waiting for her answer before attempting to remove her underwear.

"That question is yours to answer, my dear. You're the virgin. Are you ready?" she asked, placing her hands over his.

"I have wanted this for so long," he said. His eyes were glossy, half closed giving him the appearance of being drunk. "Please, please make love to me."

All right then. Rational thought be damned. Don't think, just feel. Opportunity was knocking, answer the fucking door. No regrets allowed because a line was about to be crossed, and there was no going back.

After some awkward maneuvering, a few giggles, and a lot of kisses, the last physical barriers separating them were gone. Riko positioned herself above him, lowering her body onto his erection. She held him close, his open mouth pressing against her neck to muffle his plaintive, lengthy moan. She liked the way Naruto's strong fingers gripped her behind as she moved her hips slowly.

Was sex like riding a bike? She hoped so. Presently Riko felt as if she had forgotten every damn thing about having an intimate encounter. Her body felt too tight, the initial contact a bit uncomfortable. He appeared to be enjoying it though, gliding smoothly in and out of her. Allowing Naruto to take the lead, to do as he pleased, enabled her to relax until the ride became easier and more pleasurable. His hands explored her body; massaging, squeezing, caressing, pinching.

Her fingernails raked along his back when he thrust into her forcefully striking a sensitive spot deep inside of her. He threw back his head, almost howling. Although he sounded as if he was in pain, the expression on his face displayed the purest and most intense carnal bliss.

"Naruto," she gasped, her arms tightening around his neck.

Apparently Naruto knew he was on to something good because his hands gripped her waist before he pushed into her again with a fast, powerful movement. Riko cried out, this time meeting his thrust to intensify the stimulating delight for both of them. His body shuddered in response.

"Naruto," she breathed into his ear.

"Mmmm, I love it when you say my name," he murmured, his hand sliding up her spine. He pulled her down to kiss him.

His end was coming, but hers had arrived. The heated pressure that had built inside of her released, overwhelming her, pushing her along, like a wave headed to shore to crash with others following closely behind it. Her fingers and toes tingled as she rode out the pulses of orgasmic bliss with each of his thrusts into her. Opening her mouth, she moaned, almost baying like a wolf to the moon, when he climaxed during her successive orgasms.

"Oh, my god," Naruto panted. "That was amazing."

Riko covered his face with kisses, finishing with a long kiss on his lips. She rolled off of his body to lie next to him. Her hand rested over his heart, concentrating on his runaway heartbeat. His fingers played across her forearm.

"What happens now?" Naruto asked, sliding his other arm under her neck.

"We go to sleep," she answered, yawning as if to back up her statement with proof of her tiredness.

"You know what I mean," he chuckled lightly.

"Just let things happen as they will."

"Will things get weird between us?"

"Be honest with yourself. Things are already weird between us," she stated bluntly.

"I suppose so," he agreed.

Riko used her finger to trace his jaw. The edges of his face were round, softened by his youth. Guilt tugged at her insides and tried to invade her mind. Not now. She would not allow it.

When the lightning lit up her room, she could see his eyes were open and staring at the ceiling. He probably felt the same way she did. Satisfied and content, but fighting the niggling second thoughts, pondering if they had made a horrible mistake.

"Everything will okay," he assured her. "I love you."

Snuggling into him, pressing her ear to his chest to listen to his steadily drumming heart, she closed her eyes.

"I love you too."

Riko loved him with all of her heart as she always had, but in a different way - a way she did not quite understand yet.


	10. Chapter 10

"Damn," Riko muttered, studying the steel gray sky. "What have I done?"

Riko hunkered down into the couch, snuggling deeper into the super soft blanket the same light gray color of the clouds. The rain made her feel cold and sad. Thankfully, no tears invaded her eyes. The fat clear raindrops splashed into puddles and danced on the surface of the water in the pool. The sky cried for her so the tears would not burn her eyes or make her nose run.

Guilt multiplied her sadness. For some reason, unknown even to her, she had taken an extremely bittersweet trip down memory lane by flipping through the photo album loaded with Naruto's baby pictures. The cup of piping hot green tea she presently sipped contained a shot of vodka to bring on the numbness.

Her hand absentmindedly caressed the worn cover of the closed album placed on the couch beside her. The book cover was once white but had turned ivory with age. The plastic film meant to protect the cover had yellowed and cracked, peeling away from the tattered corners, leaving it vulnerable to more damage. She would have to buy a new one and switch out the photos before they incurred any irreparable damage.

The hairs on the back of her neck raised when she sensed body heat and movement behind her. Seconds later gentle fingers stroked down the sides of her neck as he placed a light, ticklish kiss to the back.

"Morning," Naruto spoke softly behind her.

"Morning," Riko returned in a low, breathy voice.

"I was worried when you weren't beside me when I woke up," he said, tugging on a curl at the crown of her head. "Are you okay?"

She leaned her head back to see his face as he bent over her from where stood behind the couch. "I'm fine."

"Are _we_ okay?" he inquired, cupping her cheek with his large palm.

"Yeah," she replied, blinking slowly a few times before closing her eyes.

Naruto came around to the front of the couch, picking up the photo album from the seat to move it to the nearby coffee table. Sitting in the place where the book had been, he slid his arm behind her shoulders to pull her against his bare chest.

Riko lay her arm across his chest, covering him with the blanket. She smiled when he sighed as she nuzzled into the crook of his neck. Feeling safe and happy in his arms that enclosed her shoulders and held her close, she hummed with contentment.

"I'm glad you're here. You could always cheer me up on a rainy day," she said.

"I'm glad I'm here too," he returned, kissing the top of her head. "How long have you been sitting here stewing in your guilt?"

Although Riko had fallen asleep quickly last night, she did not stay asleep for long. Awakening before dawn, she had lay in misery for many long minutes, each one feeling like an hour, doing her best to slow her racing thoughts. When the sun did rise it was hidden from view, but brightened the sky to a pale gray, giving her enough light to slip from the bed into the living room.

While gazing at the pictures, reliving the memories associated with them, her emotions fluctuated from giddy joyfulness to tearful remorse. Physically, she was sated; positively elated their relationship had taken an unexpected and pleasurable turn. However, emotionally, she had been thrown into a maelstrom, spinning round and round, sometimes going under and almost drowning.

"It's not wrong if we both feel the same way," Naruto whispered in her ear. "Stop thinking whatever you're thinking. Don't feel sad or guilty. Please, don't regret what we've done. That would break my heart."

"You're a mind reader," she mumbled, clutching his shoulder.

From a young age, Naruto had always been eerily attuned to her thoughts and emotions. He astounded her. His uncanny ability to know the truth of her feelings frightened her by the smallest degree. Sometimes he was too much like his mother.

"I can't read your mind," he assured her, making small circles with his forefinger her shoulder under the blanket. "But I can tell you that not one single thought that has gone through your head hasn't crossed my mind as well."

Riko's chest constricted, squeezing her heart until she became convinced it would stop beating. She moved her head over to his chest. Focusing on his breathing, she mimicked his regular, even breaths. Under her ear his heart beat rhythmically, calming her before the anxiety could rise into a full-blown panic attack. The steady rise and fall of his chest under her head reminded her of the gentle motion of the waves.

"You are my anchor in a storm," she whispered, kissing his chest over his heart.

"Riko," he murmured, squeezing her tightly. "I am the cause of this storm."

Riko lifted her head to look at his face. Naruto did not call her Aunt or Auntie. Of course he didn't; not when referencing the romantic torrent they found themselves in at the moment.

"You're right," she agreed with a smile. "This is all your fault. You should be punished."

"What do you mean?" he asked his blond eyebrows drawing together in bewilderment.

Riko stood up, allowing the blanket to fall to the floor at her feet. She wore a short black satin chemise held across her shoulders by the thinnest spaghetti straps. Her eyes skimmed over his body.

Naruto was something quite beautiful to behold. The embodiment of summer in human form. Hair yellow like the sun or a glorious sunflower. Eyes the color of the ocean or a clear blue summer sky. Sun kissed skin, golden brown, warm under her fingertips and smooth as silk as she glided her hands along his bulging biceps.

"What are you going to do?" he inquired, leaning forward to meet her lips but she pulled back to stay just out of his reach.

"I've noticed something about you," she said, her voice low, husky with the desire that glazed her eyes.

"What's that?" He tried to kiss her again when she leaned in closer, teasing him with her mouth hovering so close to his but not close enough for their lips to touch.

Riko captured his mouth with hers, placing her palm flat against his thigh knotted with toned muscle. Her fingers pressed into those thick muscles, her fingernails biting mercilessly into his skin. He ripped his lips from hers, issuing a lengthy open mouthed moan.

"You like a little bit of pain to bring you more pleasure," Riko stated flatly as his glossy sapphire eyes attempted to focus on her face. She straightened up to a standing position.

"You're right." He stood up in front of her, putting his hand on the back of her neck.

Pulling her upward, encouraging her to stand on her tiptoes, Naruto leaned down to meet her upturned lips with a tender kiss. Kissing her briefly, he reached down to cup her behind with his hands, lifting her up until she wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Kiss me," he commanded her in a beseeching way.

Riko framed his handsome face with her hands, pressing a kiss to his forehead. Her lips touched each cheek, both closed eyelids, the tip of his nose, his chin, then finally his lips. The peck on his lips was quick, followed by another and another, swift little teasing kisses each promising something more but never giving it.

Finally, Naruto used the hand on the back of her neck to hold her mouth down on his, seizing the deep, lip tingling kiss he desired. He turned around, lowering her onto the couch and kneeling in front of her. Peeling her hands away from his neck, he pushed her wrists down onto the cushions of the couch while his mouth made a line of feathery, ticklish kisses down her neck.

Riko squirmed under him, her breasts flattening under his chest which he used to hold her down while he tempted her with more playful kisses on her sensitive neck. A whimper escaped her slightly parted lips when he sat up to stare down at her. She pushed her pelvis at his, raising a groan from his throat as she rubbed against him.

"So what have you learned about me, my darling?" she asked.

One corner of the gorgeous blonde's mouth quirked upward into an arrogant smirk.

"You like to be dominated with a gentle hand, giving me the illusion of being in control, allowing me to push you only so far before taking that control away from me," he said, placing her hands on his waist.

"Does that bother you?" Her fingers traced the waist band of his shorts.

"No," he answered, pushing aside the material of her nightgown to reveal her breast. "In the end, you give that control right back to me."

Riko whimpered when he pinched her erect nipple sending a surge of pleasure through her body from the stinging discomfort.

"You're not too opposed to pain yourself, are you?" Naruto pointed out, massaging the sore, now sensitive, nipple with his thumb.

"As you know," she said, returning the favor by tweaking his nipple and eliciting a hiss followed by a sigh in response, "administering a little pain at the right time can make it feel so much better."

"I suppose we're making all sorts of new and interesting discoveries about each other." His hands slid up her thighs, pushing under the edge of her black panties. "There's something else I want to learn."

"Oh, yeah?" she giggled, lifting her behind so he could pull off her underwear. "What's that?"

"I want to find out what it takes to make you scream."

"Oh, my..."


	11. Chapter 11

Sex. Feral. Untamed. Lust in its purest form expressed through hard and fast intercourse. Naruto could not help it. Making love; slow, patient, romantic sex, would be sublime. As much as he wanted to make love to her that would have to wait. Like a child with a new toy, he needed to wear the new off of it to sate his long held yearning.

Not sure exactly when his obsession began, he had developed feelings for her beyond what he should quite some time ago. Around the age of fifteen is when he had officially fallen in love with her. He kept the forbidden feelings hidden, tamping them down and trying to kill them entirely. However, they grew instead, taking root deep in his heart and refusing to let go of his wildest imagination.

At sixteen, unable to shake the taboo love, he decided he wanted to be her everything including her lover. He dreamed about it, day and night, fixated on the moment when he achieved that goal.

At seventeen, his time had come. And so had he. Again.

"Riko," he moaned in her ear.

Emptying himself inside of her, giving her all of him, Naruto gathered the blushing, panting woman under him into his arms. A kiss on her neck elicited a shiver in response. His hands roamed over her small, firm breasts.

Her breasts were so different from Hinata's. Hinata's breasts were massive, pendulous, teardrop shaped, and soft like pillows, malleable in his hands.

Riko's breasts were much smaller but still a good size, fitting perfectly into his palms as if they were made specifically for him. Round, sitting perkily on her chest they begged to be touched yet forced his hand to mold to them. Her entire body was taut and neatly packed but retained an hourglass shape. Although her vocation required hours of sitting, doing nothing but reading and typing at a computer, she kept herself fit and lean.

Naruto rubbed his thumb over her nipple, relishing the sensation of the delicate flesh contracting into a crinkled, solid little nub. His lips moved lower, branding her neck, then her chest with kisses, reminding her that she belonged to him now. Finally, his lips found the rigid nipple, kissing it, licking it, then taking it into his mouth at last to suck it.

His teeth nipped the tender swollen knob and the groan she released made the spark of desire reignite deep in his belly. Damn. He needed to stop, but he could not help himself. He wanted her. He needed her. She had become his addiction. He wanted to possess her entirely for as long as possible.

Days and nights had passed while they had sex over and over. Occasionally they paused their sensual escapades to take care of other physical needs such as eating or sleeping. Periodic showers were necessary due to sweat and other bodily fluids being excreted in excessive amounts. They were like two lovesick honeymooners who had set themselves apart from the world where only the two of them existed.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear, his lips grazing the outer edge.

"Mmmm, I love you too," she returned sleepily.

Naruto lay next to her on his side, molding his body to hers when she rolled onto her side beside him facing away from him. His fingertips touched the soft skin behind her ear, gliding downward, following the contour of her neck, turning upward to rise to her shoulder. His fingers slid down her shoulder to her back before moving up again to her ribs, tracing the curve that dipped in at her waist then expanded to form her hip. He stopped, flattening his hand to her hip. His fingers gripped the roundness of her wonderfully curved hip, sighing with satisfaction.

"Are you tired?" he asked, fitting his hips more closely to hers, pressing his half erect member to her behind.

"A little," she admitted with a girlish giggle. She arched her back, pushing her butt more firmly to him bringing to full arousal. "My, my, someone's not tired at all."

"He has a mind of his own," Naruto said, his fingers brushing across her inner thigh.

"What do you want?" Her fingers enclosed his wrist when his hand pushed between her thighs slick with their mingled juices.

"I want you," he answered with all sincerity, grasping her thigh and pulling her leg upward. "I want all of you. Forever and always."

Naruto's abdomen tightened with a sickening spasm upon hearing her sad sigh. _Please don't tell me that's not possible. I don't want to hear it right now._

"Don't say anything," he begged her. Angling his hips down then pushing up, he slid into her . "I only want to think about right here, right now."

"But one of these days..." Her words died in her throat to be replaced by a whimper of unexpected pleasure when his fingers stroked across her clitoris.

"Not another word," he commanded her, massaging the stiff, pulsing little organ buried between her puffy labia. "Or I'll stop what I'm doing."

She sighed to express her pleasure instead, squeezing his wrist with crushing force before letting go.

Naruto moved inside of her at a leisurely pace, in no hurry to reach the final culmination of bliss. He wanted to feel her completely while making sure she felt every inch of him.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear again. He would never allow her to forget. Never.

"I love you too, sweetheart," she responded, pressing her back to his chest.

For several minutes, he made love to her, carefully, slowly, sweetly. Her hand reached back, grabbing his butt cheek, urging him to move faster. When he did not, her hand lifted to deliver a stinging slap to his behind.

"Oh, my god," he gasped, thrusting his hips forward forcefully.

"Oh, that's it," Riko moaned with delight. She made another sound akin to an animalistic growl when his fingers applied more pressure to her engorged clitoris.

Another slap to his ass sent a tingle through his thighs that rushed to his balls making them tighten with the anticipation of another satisfying release of pressure and jism.

"Naruto!" she cried out, her body shuddering before she lost control entirely, convulsing in his arms in the throes of her climax.

Her vaginal walls contracted and released around him with each successive mini-orgasm, squeezing and rubbing him as he plunged forward then pulled back. Holding her by the hip, he drove himself inside of her like a piston in a machine without holding back. Pressing his open mouth to her shoulder, he stifled his loud groans, verging on howls of satisfaction.

After receiving one last powerful smack on the behind, delivered at the exact moment he reached the peak of pleasure, he yelled her name and ejaculated, shoving himself to the hilt to impel her completely.

Riko wailed from the shocking intensity of his climax, as well as the fact he struck something deep inside of her. The head of his cock had bumped a solid, unmoving wall which apparently was extremely sensitive considering the way she trembled in his arms as he held her. His hips continued to move of their own volition in sporadic, involuntary little twitches with each recurring spasm of pleasure from his powerful orgasm.

Sweat rolled down their bodies, meeting and mixing where their skin pressed together. A sense of oneness, a closeness he had not experienced before, encapsulated Naruto making him feel truly connected to her in a way he had not in their previous sessions.

"This is nice," Riko sighed, her body relaxing into his, becoming still at last.

"Do you feel it too?" he inquired, draping his arm over her waist.

"Of course I do."

His arms cinched tighter around her waist to hold her in place just in case she took this moment to attempt an escape. He couldn't allow her to do that. Selfishly, he needed to hold onto her, seizing this moment in time. He wanted feel this amazing feeling and hang on to it for as long as possible. Their days were numbered. Literally. Although she had promised to come to his graduation, there was no guarantee she would actually show up.

"I wish this could last forever," he sighed sadly, feeling like a balloon slowly losing its air.

"Me too," she agreed, her fingertips caressing the back of his hand laying across her belly. "Maybe one day we could..."

"Maybe one day we could what?" He sat up, propping himself on his elbow so he could see her face.

"Never mind. We should get some sleep. We actually need to leave the house tomorrow. Go to the grocery store and - " Her words froze in her throat when he took her chin between his thumb and forefinger turning her head to make her look at him.

"Maybe one day we could what?" he repeated insistently, wanting to know what thought had crossed her mind. His eyes tracked back and forth nervously between her teal colored irises.

"We can discuss this after your graduation," she said.

Dammit! Stubborn, annoying woman. Just like his mother. She is his mother's sister after all. She had been many women to him: his mother, his sister, his aunt, his friend, presently his lover. The crushing weight of what he already knew struck him anew like an unexpected lightning bolt on a sunny day. But she was always his mother's sister and his aunt.

Fuck. Yes, fuck indeed. He had fucked his mother's sister, his aunt, many, _many_ times over.

"Hey, it will be okay," Riko assured him, kissing his forehead. She rolled flat onto her back, pulling his head to her chest. "Like I told you, we're okay. Everything is okay."

Naruto closed his eyes. Her body felt soft and warm against his, soothing him, pushing away his doubts and guilt. This was okay. They were okay. She had said so. He believed her. He needed her to believe it as well.

"Yeah. Everything is okay. Believe it."


	12. Chapter 12

They had gone to the grocery store, the mall, and a coffee shop. They miraculously managed to fit in a surfing session. After showering and cooking dinner together, they settled down on the couch.

Naruto sat on the opposite end of the couch from her, their legs tangling together in the middle. He stared at the ridiculous picture on the cover of the book she held in front of her face while she read. A shirtless man with long blond hair blowing out behind him in the wind held a woman in a fussy Victorian dress, her modest cleavage spilling over the top. The dark haired damsel in distress appeared to have fainted, overcome with her love for her handsome hero no doubt.

"Why do you read that crap?" he inquired, pulling her feet up onto his belly.

"I need to read to become a better writer. I learn what to do, and sometimes what not to do, by reading other people's books," she explained patiently, turning the page. "I help write this kind of crap you know."

"But what you and Jiraiya write isn't crap. He's a best selling author," he reminded her.

She offered no reply, keeping her face hidden behind the book. Naruto sighed dejectedly. He was hoping to make her put the book down. His fingers prodded the sole of her foot. Perhaps he could distract her, bring her attention back to him, with a foot massage. Then he recalled a question he had been meaning to ask her.

"Is the G-spot a real thing?"

Riko dropped the book she had been reading. It fell to the floor with a thunk, the pages flipping and losing her place. She blinked at the wide eyed blonde sitting at the opposite end of the couch as he stared back her. His fingers stopped massaging the soles of her feet that were lying crossed at the ankles on his taut belly.

"What?" she giggled self-consciously.

"You heard me. Is the G-spot a real thing?" he repeated, enunciating each word carefully.

"What do you know about a G-spot?" she questioned him, laughing lightly.

"Nothing. That's why I'm asking," he retorted, rolling his eyes. "Duh."

"Smart ass," she growled through her gritted teeth, pinching his nipple using her toes.

"Ow, dammit!" he howled in pain, grabbing her ankle to keep her from doing it again. "Damn you and your monkey toes."

"I'm sorry," she apologized, quite insincerely, trying to free her foot from his vise like grip. She kicked her leg in all directions, almost kicking him in the face, but he refused to let go. "But not really."

"But that really hurt," he whined, rubbing the injured piece of sensitive flesh which had turned red. "And I wasn't even turned on. Otherwise it might have been...good in a bad way."

"Aw, Kit," she cooed, sitting up to lean over him. She kissed the enlarged, tender nipple, before lapping at it with her tongue.

Naruto's fingers found their way into her hair, holding her head as she intermittently kissed, licked, and ever so gently sucked the sore protuberance. One case of swelling led to another which he made her aware of by raising his hips to push his stiff cock between her breasts under her shirt. She was not wearing a bra.

Riko immediately ceased her stimulating apology. She sat back on her feet in a kneeling position between his legs.

"Yes, the G-spot is a real thing," she stated flatly, finally answering his question.

"Seriously? You stopped doing what you were doing to tell me that?" He grunted in frustration.

"Hey, you asked," she retorted. Waggling her eyebrows at him, she asked in a low, husky voice,"Want me to show you where mine is?"

"Hell yeah I do," he eagerly agreed.

"Follow me then."

Riko led him to her bedroom, pulling off her plain purple t-shirt on the way. She flung it carelessly behind her. Unbuttoning and unzipping her denim shorts, she pushed them down her hips as she walked.

"Mmmm, damn woman," he growled playfully when he saw her bare ass. "You're a bad girl."

"Yeah, but in a the best of ways," she countered, glancing back at him over her shoulder and giving him a flirtatious wink.

Stepping out of the shorts, she left them behind in her doorway. Once inside her room, she turned around to see Naruto standing behind her, naked as well. She sat down on the bed, patting the mattress beside her in an invitation for him to sit down.

Riko kissed him after he obediently complied. Depending on the circumstances, he was quite willing to be submissive. Keeping her lips pressed to his, she pulled him down with her as she leaned back until both of them were lying on their sides facing each other. Her hands explored every inch of his chest, raising a trail of goosebumps over his skin due to her soft touch. Reluctantly breaking the probing kiss, her eyes held his while her palm glided down his arm to take his hand in hers.

"What do I do?" Naruto asked, when she placed his hand over her breast.

"First, you need to get the juices flowing, sweetheart," she said, squeezing his hand around her breast.

"Oh, I can definitely do that," he responded enthusiastically.

His head bowed to take her other nipple between his lips. Both of her breasts deserved his attention. His tongue teased the very tip of the stiff brownish pink flesh, pulling a groan from her throat.

The heat of passion seared her thighs and burned deep inside her belly. Riko sighed appreciatively when his hand slid from her breast, his fingers tickling her abdomen as they drifted downward to massage her thigh, provoking her to open her legs for him. Her hands grasped his head, pulling him upward so she could whisper in his ear.

"Slide in your forefinger," she ordered him, placing her knee on his hip to keep her legs spread apart.

Naruto inserted his forefinger between the outer lips slick with her body's natural lubrication.

"Oh, god," he moaned as his finger entered her willing body.

"Mmmm," she hummed in his ear, pushing her hips toward him.

"Can I put in another finger?" he inquired after moving in and out a few times.

"Yes, please," she begged, her lips grazing the outer curve of his ear.

His longer middle finger slipped inside, stretching her, filling her, touching her deeper. Her body shuddered from the pleasure that washed over her. His digital manipulation imparted a lingering heat over her entire body.

His member throbbed painfully, wanting her, needing her, but there was something else he wanted to do more. Taking her foot, he carefully positioned her leg between his legs and against his agonizingly pulsating manhood. The friction of her smooth skin against the aching erection offered a modicum of relief like scratching a discomforting itch.

"What do I do now?" Naruto inquired breathlessly.

"Curve your fingers forward, in a C shape. Move the tips of your fingers, just a little bit, rubbing the wall gently," she coached him.

"Like this?" He followed her instructions while continuing to move his fingers in and out of her.

Her immediate whimper, then the following guttural groan told him he was definitely doing something right.

A moan of pleasure passed his lips when she pushed her leg more firmly against his throbbing penis, bringing further relief from the itch that begged to be scratched. Despite the fact he was humping her leg like a horny dog, he could not stop, would not stop, because it felt so damn good. He continued to rub her inside exactly as she had dictated to him.

"Oh, just like that," she breathed into his ear, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Naruto found himself barely able to breath when she buried his face between her breasts. Her arms were like dual pythons, squeezing him. Damn she was strong.

He started to wonder what it would be like to have her muscular thighs enclosing his head. Would she pop his skull like a watermelon? That little adventure would definitely be undertaken in the near future.

"Is that it? Am I touching the right spot?" He pushed his fingertips across the smooth inner wall of the most intimate part of her anatomy.

"That's definitely it," she gasped, thrusting her hips at his hand.

Riko shivered from the delightful sexual thrill he was giving her. Tingling sensations, both and hot and cold alternatively, raced down her spine and spread through her hips and thighs. Swaying her pelvis, she worked his fingers inside of her while his fingertips massaged the delicate area of the elusive G-spot. Her groans increased in volume as the welcome pressure and heaviness of an approaching orgasm built in the lowest part of her belly.

Naruto studied her face as expressions of both pleasure and pain flitted across her beautiful features. Her eyebrows drew together, and her mouth dropped open as if issuing a silent scream. Seconds later, her face relaxed, displaying so much joy she almost glowed. Every new emotion amazed him, each changing expression thrilled him. Bringing her so much carnal delight served to increase his exponentially which he never expected.

Riko closed her eyes tightly, arching her back, opening her mouth to cry out his name when the ultimate bliss over took her. Her body writhed uncontrollably, and she held onto him, kissing him hard on the mouth while the climax ravaged her.

Unexpectedly, Naruto released, the wetness splattering across his abdomen and chest as well as her leg and belly. Letting go of the painful pressure, ridding himself of the deep aching inside, had never felt so good.

"So..." he panted, smiling at her. "Was it as good for you as it was for me?"

"Oh, yes."

* * *

Although it may seem like it, this is not a PWP story. I would refer to it as Porn to Further the Plot. Obviously, this has to a thing considering the overall theme of the story. So I hope you all enjoy sex with a little bit of romance thrown into the mix. If not, this is definitely not the story for you.


	13. Chapter 13

Riko returned from her impromptu shopping trip still a bit miffed about being kicked out of her own house. Naruto had been insistent, relentless, practically shoving her out of the door. She reluctantly left at his persistent urging, suspicious of what he had up his sleeve. All he would say is 'it's a surprise.' She didn't like receiving surprises, but she loved giving them. He dared to call her a hypocrite.

Riko walked into the kitchen to find a glass of wine sitting on the counter with a note underneath.

"Thank you for making the last fifteen days the happiest of my life," she read aloud to herself, sipping at the wine.

A smile lifted the corners of her lips. The blue bird of happiness flapped its wings making her heart take flight.

Fifteen days. Their vacation was halfway over with. She sighed sadly, her elation threatening to die away. Not yet. Don't go happiness. There's still time left. Having given herself over to these strong emotions, she had not thought about how she would feel once he was no longer with her.

A single long stemmed white rose lay on the sky blue cushion of one of the bar stools. A slip of paper had been tied to the stem.

 _Fifteen things I love about you..._

 _1\. Your courage to follow your dreams._

The velvety petals tickled her nose as she deeply inhaled the flower's delicate fragrance. Her eyes caught sight of another rose lying on the floor, a yellow one, with another note.

 _2\. Your determination to make those dreams come true._

A trail of flowers, each a different color and bearing a note, created a directional path down the hall. Obviously she should follow it.

 _3\. Your strength._

 _4\. Your creativity._

 _5\. Your kindness._

The next rose, a white one with light pink coloring the edges of the petals, led her into her room.

 _6\. Your soft, gentle hands._

 _7\. Your crazy, curly hair._

 _8\. Your crazier whims._

 _9, You dare to be different._

 _10\. Your cooking._

 _11\. Your surfing skills._

 _12\. Your gorgeous blue-green eyes._

Although the rose had been dyed, she appreciated the fact it had been colored the exact same teal shade of her eyes. She wondered how long he had planned this, why he had gone through so much to trouble to find these unusual roses. How long had he saved to pay for these?

The next flower lay in the middle of her bed. Then she reminded herself this had become _their_ bed. Her fingers grasped the verdant stem of the lovely peach colored bud with red on the tips of the petals. Unfolding the strip of paper, she read the two simple words written on it.

 _13\. Your body._

She blushed hotly, holding the growing bouquet of multicolored roses against her chest. His reasons he loved her were many and varied, listed in no particular order. She picked up the last rose, a deep crimson one, laying in front of the bathroom door.

 _14\. The way I love you._

Fourteen in all. Riko had assumed there would fifteen, one for each day. She looked down at the amazing array of beautiful flowers and heart warming sentiment represented in her arms. As the first tear tumbled from the corner of her eye, rolling down her cheek, the door in front of her opened.

Naruto stood in front of her, a towel wrapped around his waist. He held another deep blood red rose in his hand.

"Fifteen," he said, touching the rose to her lips. "The fifteenth thing I love about you is the way you love me."

"Naruto," she exhaled, barely able to breathe much less speak.

"A second red rose to represent our desire and passion. A deep, dark red to show the depth of our love." He traced her lips with the half open rose, teasing her lips in the most wonderful way with its silky petals. "The petals are like the softness of your touch. The scent is like the sweetness of you."

Riko relinquished the roses to him so he put them in the vase sitting on the shelf next to the sink. She was impressed with the degree of his forethought.

Candles covered almost every flat raised surface in the bathroom. Their tiny flames combined to fill the small room with an otherworldly golden light giving the scene a surreal, hazy glow. The bathtub had been filled with water so hot, steam rose from the surface in a vaporous cloud.

Naruto reached for the hem of her t-shirt, pulling it over her head. His fingers nimbly unfastened her shorts, sliding them down her legs. He stayed bent in front of her, allowing her to hold his shoulders to step out of the garment around her ankles. His fingers pulled on the strings tied at her hips to free the bikini bottom from her lower half. Turning her around, with two more swift tugs, he untied the bows holding the top around her neck and torso.

Riko turned back to face him in response to his hand pulling her shoulder. Her eyes went to his face, studying the pleasant smile on his smooth pink lips before moving upwards to his eyes. His eyes were like two sparkling sapphires, gazing at her through half closed closed eyelids. Drunk on love. She almost laughed at the somewhat silly sentiment. But the way he was looking at her was way too serious to laugh.

Her eyes fluttered closed when he took her face between his hands while simultaneously lowering his mouth to hers. The light pressure of his mouth, the feathery movement of his lips across hers, conveyed the purity of his love.

Naruto lifted his head, giving her another sweet smile that warmed her heart and her cheeks with a girlish blush. Taking her hand, he led her to the tub where multi colored rose petals floated on top of the water.

"Are you going to join me?" Riko asked, still holding his hand after he assisted her into the water.

"Of course," he replied, dropping the towel from around his body.

Riko lay back in the tub, stretching her short legs out to place her feet on his thigh after he positioned himself in front her to recline against the other end.

"Fifteen days," he sighed, his eyes fastened to her face.

She shifted self-consciously under his intense scrutiny, sloshing water over the side of the overly full tub.

"Stop that," she chastised him, raising her foot to pinch his nipple.

This time he caught her by the ankle, pulling the disturbingly strong toes away before she could injure him again.

"I want to remember you in this moment. I want to be able to recall every detail of your face until I can see you again," he said, lowering her foot back into the water.

"Quit acting like we're never going to see each other again. I told you that I'll be coming to see the cherry blossoms with you. To see your graduation."

"Are you really?" he inquired skeptically, raising an eyebrow. "I can't help but think you said that just to appease me."

"I'll be there. I promise," she assured him, placing her hand over her heart.

"Pinky swear?" He held out his hooked pinky finger to her.

"Oh, Naruto, really," she scoffed, glancing away from him. Those intense jewel like eyes were cutting straight through her.

"Swear. Like you used to," he pleaded with her, sliding closer to her and pushing her legs apart in the process.

"I promise," she repeated, hooking her pinky around his. Her eyes stubbornly met his. Her legs enclosed his waist which he had fitted firmly between her legs, anchoring herself to him. "I pinky swear, Kitsune. I'll be there."

Naruto pressed his mouth to hers forcefully for several long seconds as if to seal the promise with a kiss as well. After the powerful kiss, he held her head in his hands, his forehead pressing to hers while his lips hovered above hers.

"Fifteen days are gone. Fifteen more to go. Then we will be apart for six months." He moved back from her, reclaiming his position at the opposite end of the tub. "What comes after that?"

"I-I don't kn-know," she stammered.

"Don't tell me you haven't had any thoughts about the future running around in that pretty little head of yours."

"Well, maybe..." She inhaled a deep breath. "Maybe I can talk to your mother about you living me with for a year. Traveling with me. Seeing the world. Your idea wasn't half bad."

Naruto's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. Before he could say anything, she raised a finger with a stern, warning look in her eyes.

"But it's only for a year. Then you have to return home to go to university. And all of that is only if your mother agrees to it," she reminded him.

"I could talk to her. Maybe I should talk to Dad first then he could talk to her."

"That's a great idea. Your father does have a way with her that none of the rest of us do."

"Kinda like I have with you?"

Riko rolled her eyes and covered her mouth with her hand to hide her smile.

"Could I go with you right after graduation? You left then so I think I should too."

"Naruto, we'll discuss all of that later." Her belly tightened in that awful way when anxiety takes hold of her, filling her with fear and doubt, making her nauseated. Sliding toward him, she turned, sitting on top of his thighs, and leaning back against his chest. "For now, let's just be together. Reality and the future can wait."

"I agree," he murmured, touching the sensitive spot under her earlobe with his lips. She shivered despite the warmth of the water. He chuckled lightly. "Number sixteen on the list of things I love about you. The way you tremble whenever I kiss your neck."

"You make me tremble from a lot of the things you do to me," she giggled.

"Why don't I do one of those things now?" he suggested, lifting her up to position her over his fully erect manhood.

"Oh, o-okay," she stammered as he lowered her on top of him.

The small waves created by the leisurely, gentle movements of their hips overflowed the sides of the tub and splashed onto the floor. It was like being in the ocean, the moving water aiding in the rocking of their bodies. Their lovemaking was slow, unhurried, paced to make each second last minutes and to make each minute count.

Naruto's hands cupped to gather the water which he poured over her breasts. A rose petal stuck to her chest which he plucked off to stroke across her nipple pulling a sigh of pleasure from her lips.

Riko turned her head, grasping the back of his head to bring his mouth to hers. One of his hands found its way between her thighs, the fingers pushing between her labia to massage her to an orgasm. The water lapped at her breasts like many tongues as he pushed into her again and again, sloshing the water over the side with each upward thrust.

When it was over, both of them were fully relaxed and warmed by both the water and the afterglow of great sex. Riko settled into his lap, her head tucked under his chin and resting on his chest. She sighed deeply with contentment.

Then a sinister emotion began creeping over her, pushing aside her delightful but temporary happiness. Too many things, too many good things, were fleeting in this world. Not everything is meant to last but oh, if only some things could.

"This is all we will ever be. You know that right?" she murmured, opening her eyes to stare at the ceiling. The white tiles wavered under the layer of tears coating her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked. Without waiting for an explanation, apprehension over her next words made anger filter into his system. "Our relationship is about more than sex. God, so much more," he muttered, his agitation growing. "How could you - "

"That's not what I mean," Riko said, her voice low and steady. She sat up, moving back to her end of the tub away from him. "We've reached a pinnacle. This is as good as it gets. And it's great, don't get me wrong. But..."

"But what?" he demanded testily, his blond eyebrows drawing together over his nose.

She looked away from him, unable to bear his angry gaze. "Being what we are, we can never get married. Never have children. This is it. There will be no more progression to our relationship. No further evolution."

"What's wrong with that? How many men have climbed tall mountains and reached the peak, but were still happy and content with their lives?"

"But they never remained on the mountain. They left it, went back to their everyday lives, and the mountain became a memory."

"Why are you so afraid of being left when you're the one always leaving?" he asked her not caring how cruel the words sounded.

Riko stood up, getting out of the tub. Stepping into the puddle of water on the floor around the tub made her groan.

"Are you saying after the next fifteen days I'll leave you and this will be nothing more than a memory of our last summer together?" he inquired to clarify her meaning in his own mind.

Instead of answering him, she busied herself with spreading towels on the floor to mop up the mess they had made. Too bad the mess they had made of their relationship could not be so easily rectified.

"Maybe that's the way it should be," she replied in a voice shaky with her restrained tears.

"Should I leave right now? Pack my suitcases and go?" He got out of the tub and stood behind her. His body started trembling, partly from anger, mostly from fear, of her answer. What if she told him to go? He really shouldn't have said those things to her. But...

"Naruto, do you know what your mother and I fought about the night I left?" She wrapped a towel around her, turning to face him.

The sudden change of subject shocked him, immediately dispelling his fear. Confusion set in, diminishing his anger. He worried about what emotionally traumatizing direction she planned on taking this frustrating conversation next.

"N-no," he stuttered, taking the fluffy white towel she held out to him.

"I have a confession to make. Maybe we should sit down for this."


	14. Chapter 14

CAUTION: Drama, drama, drama ahead. But with a nice citrusy ending. All's well that ends well, right?

* * *

Naruto followed her into the bedroom. Bile rose in his throat when nausea invaded his gut violently. He had the feeling he was not going to like hearing anything she was about to say.

Sitting down on the bed beside her, he took her hand in his. She was shaking. This was going to be bad. Real bad.

"I was going to be forced to marry Obito Uchiha. The wedding would have taken place within the next week. I was going to be a wife and mother. Well, not necessarily in that order," she corrected herself, red spots forming on the apples of her cheeks.

"You were pregnant?" he asked, gulping back the stomach acid after it filled his mouth.

"Yes."

She answered quickly. Too quickly. There was more. Oh, god. He feared was going to throw up for real, unable to hold it back. Squeezing her hand, he encouraged her to go on despite not wanting to hear it.

"The baby wasn't his, but he was going to marry me anyway. He loved me so he was going to do the honorable thing."

Questions. So many questions filled his head. Dare he ask them?

"Did you love him?" Naruto asked tentatively.

"Yes. That's why I walked away from him. I wanted to marry him but not then. Not under those circumstances. And what if later he hated me and resented the child? I couldn't do that to him or the baby," she murmured in a low voice, avoiding looking at him.

At that time, Riko had been dating Obito Uchiha for over a year. Everyone said they were going to get married after university - if their relationship survived. Apparently, it had died way sooner than anyone expected, especially Obito.

Naruto swallowed convulsively, almost choking on the lump in his throat. He hated this conversation and everything about it. But he had to know more. For years he had contemplated what awful occurrence had caused such a gaping chasm to form between his mother and aunt, the two most cherished women in his life. None of his imaginings compared to the truth. The worst part about this was there was more terrible truth to come.

"Who's baby was it?" he questioned her in the most gentle way possible.

"His best friend's," she sniffed, lowering her chin to her chest as shame colored her entire face a dark red.

"Kakashi Hatake!" Naruto yelled.

Riko snatched her hand out of his, rolling over on to her side to turn her back to him. Her body shuddered with a sob. His anger returned with a vengeance, and her tears did not move him. Although the events had taken place ten years ago, he felt like it was happening all over again. He felt betrayed and hurt.

"What the hell did you do?! You don't do that to someone you love!" he yelled, carried away by his anger.

He knew he was attacking her for bad mistakes and dumb decisions she had made long ago when she was still a kid herself. He was sure she would love to go back and change those things, but he could not stop himself or the words.

"How could you do that? What were you thinking? What...what...what the hell... " He finally stopped talking before he unleashed any further verbal venom. He was hurting, and he was lashing out. Unnecessarily so.

However, the rage still simmered inside of him. How could she do something like that? How could she be a two timer, a cheater? And not only that, she got pregnant.

"How could I do that?" she sniffed. "It wasn't as cut and dried as it sounds I assure you. Kind of like how things happened between us."

"Just the thought of you - "

"Yeah, I know. The thought of me being a worthless cheap slut, and worse yet, a cheater sickens you," she said acerbically. Her turn had come to spew words tainted with vitriol. She snorted derisively, "Look at us. Right here. Right now. How could we do this? How could I begin an incestuous affair with my nephew? Things happen. I can't seem to stop making stupid decisions and acting on bad impulses. Sorry," she apologized with more stinging acid in her voice. "I'm so sorry I knocked myself off that pedestal you put me on by being honest."

"I'm sorry too," he apologized, staring straight ahead, unable to look at her. "What happened to the baby?"

"I killed the baby," she said flatly.

"You had an abortion?" he guessed, laying his hand on her back, feeling her quaking under his palm. When she did not pull away, he turned to press his body to hers.

"No. The baby was born dead at twenty five weeks. I made it over half way through the pregnancy. And he died," she sniffled, her voice breaking.

"You were going to have the baby?"

"What I had done wasn't the baby's fault. I wasn't going to punish him by having an abortion. I was going to give him up for adoption."

"The baby was a boy," he mumbled to himself, gulping hard. "You were going to give him up for adoption?"

"Yes, but I killed him."

"But how did you - "

"I don't know. My body couldn't handle it. Maybe it was the stress. I don't know," she repeated, her voice dissolving into a sob. "Sometimes I think if I hadn't hated myself so much, my body could have sustained him. He was the only truly innocent party involved."

"It's not your fault," he sighed, plagued by overwhelming sadness.

Obviously time does not heal all wounds. Her reaction showed how much pain she still suffered from that situation.

"Logically, I know it's not," she said, turning to face him. "But I can't make my heart believe it."

Naruto studied her tear stained face, her red rimmed eyes, the broken, fearful heart revealed through those glittering turquoise irises. Placing his hand on her shoulder, he pulled her forward into his arms. He loved her. Despite her past. He did not know all of the circumstances, any of her reasons, for what she did back then. And he did not want to know.

Circumstance is a tricky bitch. Neither one of the could have dreamed circumstances would lead the two of them in this direction. Despite the shared blood coursing through their veins, he loved her for far more than an aunt. He had decided his fate in this situation, pushed her hand, and fought for this, to be with Riko in a romantic relationship beyond the scope of their familial relationship. Would she look back on their time together one day and exhibit so much bitterness and resentment? He could not live that - or without her.

If Naruto had learned anything, he learned the heart believes what it wants to believe. The heart wants what it what wants. Kissing her on the cheek, tasting the salt of her tears, he knew he wanted her. One day they might regret all of this, making these decisions and acting on these yearnings. That day was yet to come.

"I'll love you always," he whispered to her, hugging her so tightly she started to wheeze. "Aren't you..." He allowed his words to trail off, reminding himself he should tread lightly. "Aren't you worried about getting pregnant?"

"Give me some credit. I'm a grown ass woman. I had my Fallopian tubes tied, cut, and burned when I turned twenty six," she explained, carefully wiggling out of his arms.

"That's kind of drastic isn't it? You really don't want children that much?" he asked, watching her as she unwrapped the damp towel from her body.

"I really don't want children that much," she confirmed, pulling a long t-shirt over her head. Looking back at him over her shoulder, she said, "Besides, I had you. I had already raised a child. I couldn't possibly love another one as much."

Naruto shifted uncomfortably. A sick sensation of regret and guilt oozed into his gut.

"Please don't talk about that right now. Not right now," he said, standing up from the bed. He went to her, taking her into her into his arms. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"I have one more thing to say before I'm done."

"Riko, please, not - "

"Jiraiya's a good man. He took on a whole of drama and big hot mess he didn't have to when he invited me into his life. Despite what anyone thinks about him, even if they believe he's a degenerate pervert, and yes, I will admit he is, but he has always been a gentleman to me," she inhaled sharply after her fevered ramble. "He was a father to me. He has taken good care of me. He pretended to be my husband and signed the consent papers for me to be sterilized."

"Oh, really? Why are you telling me all of this? It hurts, you know."

"You're not the only one hurting here," she reminded him.

Riko turned, gazing up at him with defiant determination in her eyes as if she dared him to get angry with her or threaten to leave her and never see her again.

"Because you need to know these things. If you're going to love me as a woman, separate from everything else I am to you, you need to know. I will never bear children, by accident or on purpose. As if I could considering...the obvious reasons. The same reasons we can never progress beyond this."

"Do you sometimes purposely try to sabotage your own happiness?" he questioned her, glaring back at her in the same stubborn way. "I think you do because at the moment you're doing a fantastic job. And you're killing mine as well."

"One day, you may want a wife and children. You'll want a happy, loving marriage like your parents. You might want one, two, three, a dozen, little children running around, screaming 'daddy, daddy!' It's only right and good and 'normal' if you do," she said as if pleading with him.

"I don't want those things," he countered.

Reaching out to touch her cheek, she shied away from his hand. _So we're back to that_ , he thought bitterly, dropping his arms to his sides.

"You don't want those things _now_ ," Riko pointed out, making sure to emphasize the present. "But one day you could change your mind and I will allow you the ability to do so without hating you or cutting you out of my life. Until then, feel what you feel, think what you think, but remember one day it could change. I will continue to love you, no matter what. Things will evolve again, or devolve. We will adapt. We will be okay. Okay?"

"Okay," he replied halfheartedly when she jostled him lightly with a her hands on his shoulders.

He tried to extricate his chin from her grip when she grasped it between her thumb and forefinger. However, her fingers bore into skin, squeezing with pain inducing pressure, forcing him to look at her. She was too damn strong for such a little woman.

"We have fifteen days," she reminded him. "Let's make the best of them."

"No time like the present," he growled playfully, grabbing her and flinging her onto the bed.

Riko landed flat on her back, her feet still on the floor. The t-shirt twisted around her waist, exposing her bare bottom half.

Naruto seized her wrists when she tried to cover herself up. Twisting one of the lengths of fabric around one wrist, then the other, he bound her hands together above her head. Pushing her knees apart, he positioned himself between her legs. His fingers combed through the reddish gold thatch of curly hairs trimmed into a neat triangle.

"What are you going to do?" she asked, unable to sit up and look at him since he had tied her hands with the fabric from the opposite side of the bed.

"Something I think you'll like," he replied, sliding his fingers between the labia slick with her natural lubricant. Spreading her swollen, dark pink lips apart, he lowered his head to taste her.

"Oh, shit," she gasped, straining at her bindings. His tongue delved deep inside of her, making her cry out his name. "Naruto!"

She wanted to run her fingers through his hair, pull his face tighter to her while he traced the sensitive vulva with his tongue. All she could do was writhe and whimper helplessly, completely at his sensual mercy. When he touched the tip of his tongue to her aching clitoris, she arched her back wanting him to lick her again. She groaned in frustration when he slid his tongue lower. Her hips pushed upward at him when he teased her entrance, his tongue entering her ever so slightly.

"Please," she begged. Rimming the hole again, he pushed his tongue in a little further before withdrawing it. "Please."

"Please, what?" he asked. He planted a noisy kiss on her clitoris, sucking the throbbing, stiff little organ between his lips.

"Oh, god, I don't know. Do whatever. Just don't stop," she breathlessly pleaded.

He did not stop until he had licked, sucked, and tongue fucked her into oblivion so many times until she changed her pleas. When she had been reduced into a squirming, sweating woman, begging him to stop, he did. He untied her, moving her body to a more comfortable place and position on the bed. Laying beside her, fitting his body to hers, he held her.

"What about you?" she asked, panting. His arm constricted around her waist when she tried unsuccessfully to turn over toward him or move at all.

"Be still. Sleep," he whispered in her ear. "I'll be fine. I wanted to make you forget. To put that out of your head so you could sleep. So you could have sweet dreams about me. Tomorrow can be my day."

"Tomorrow then. I promise."


	15. Chapter 15

Kisses light as the caress of a butterfly's wings from lips as smooth as silk awakened him. The gentle movement fluttered across his forehead, his eyelids, his cheeks, and the tip of his nose. Anticipation of a kiss on his lips roused him completely. However, he kept his eyes closed, feigning sleep, awaiting her sweet kiss. Instead of feeling the touch of her lips on his, she repeated the process of peppering his face with her tender kisses.

Her fingertips were cool against his hot skin when she stroked his face then his neck. Her touch raised goosebumps over his chest when her palm skated across his nipple before pressing to his abdomen. Her lips came as close as the corner of his mouth before skimming over his chin to his neck. Oh, god, she was driving him mad.

Naruto wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless to pay her back for torturing him slowly. Waking up to her teasing him sweetly with her kisses and fingers was the best way in the world to wake up. Now that she had pulled him from the realm of sleep and awakened all parts of his body, he wanted more but he would allow her to do what she wanted no matter how much he ached. And he ached painfully - but in a good way.

Her lips brushed the outer curve of his ear causing him to jump. She giggled, her warm breath tickling his ear and making him groan.

"Awake?" she whispered.

"Mm mm," he mumbled back, keeping his eyes closed and not moving his body.

Riko chuckled again. She pressed her palm to his cheek, turning his face toward her. Finally, she gave him the kiss he had been craving. Her mouth fitted perfectly to his. She moved her body on top of his, giving him more of what he yearned for, giving him all of her. Her hip bones rocked against his. The gentle pivoting motion pushed him deep inside of her.

Naruto grasped the back of her neck, holding her mouth to his. His tongue slipped between her lips, finding hers which gamely prodded back at his in a mock battle for dominance. She already knew she was in control in this situation. He did not mind at all. His hand gripped her butt cheek, his fingers pressing into her satiny skin. The firm muscles of her ass writhed under his palm as she worked her hips at a slow pace; frustratingly slow yet pleasure inducing all the same.

Riko had taught him many lessons in his life. She was still teaching him presently. Patience in all things - even sex. Perhaps especially sex. He had waited for years for their relationship to come to this. Their time to be together in a new and life changing way had come. There was no reason to hurry through it. Savor the moment. Enjoy the journey without rushing to the destination. There was more to sex than an orgasm. This was making love.

Suddenly her mouth lifted from his prompting him to open his eyes. Naruto observed the beautiful woman sitting on top of him. Her long black eyelashes lay against her bronzed freckled cheek. Pink spots of color formed on the apples of her cheeks from her physical efforts to please him. Her dark pink lips parted slightly, issuing forth a moan of carnal delight that made him shiver with excitement. So lovely. So provocative.

Naruto rested his hands on the roundness of her hips, arching his back and raising his pelvis into her. Her mouth dropped open, and she cried out. Not in pain, but in sheer bliss exhibited on her gorgeous face. She virtually glowed. This beautiful woman making love to him was all his.

Riko's eyelids spread apart but only halfway, giving her glassy eyes a heavily lidded, drowsy appearance. Her eyes met his only briefly, closing again when he thrust upward into her until his behind lifted from the mattress under him. When he lowered his hips, she opened her eyes again; keeping her eyes locked on his, creating a consuming intimacy, a world truly of their own.

They continued to move their bodies in a steady, unhurried rhythm allowing the sexual gratification to build progressively. Like climbing a mountain, one step at a time, they steadily rose to the pinnacle of physical satisfaction together.

Naruto enclosed her shaking body with his arms when she collapsed onto his chest. Kissing her neck, he could feel the rapidly pulsing artery under his lips as she dragged in each gasping breath. A smile of self-congratulation stretched his lips. A swelling of pride bordering on cockiness puffed out his chest and lifted her with each of his deep inhales.

"Open your eyes. Look at me," he beseeched her.

"I love you," she said, tears forming iridescent pearls in the corners of her eyes.

"Tell me you're crying because you're happy," he pleaded with her.

"Of course I'm happy," she responded, kissing his forehead.

"Why are you crying?" His thumb stroked her cheek that had not yet been dampened by her tears.

"Say you love me," she begged, leaning down to kiss his lips. Riko pressed her cheek to his, placing her ear close to his lips. "Tell me you love me."

"I do love you. I always have. I always will," he told her truthfully.

He pulled her head up, his fingers entwined in her hopelessly tangled springy copper curls. His eyes captured hers that were more green than teal as if the blue color had been washed away by her joyful tears.

"Please, no matter what happens after this summer, don't you ever, ever doubt how I feel about you. Time, distance, who we are...not even other people...will change how I feel about you," he promised her.

Riko nodded mutely, her eyelids falling to shield her eyes from his view. Her tears dripped from her chin falling onto his chest.

"Believe it?" he asked her, squeezing her gently with his strong arms.

Riko laughed lightly despite her tears. Naruto adored that musical sound and cherished her beaming smile. He always wanted to see her like this: happy, never sad, especially because of him.

"I believe it."

* * *

A short note from the author: I apologize for the brevity of this chapter and the long time between updates. I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. Thank you for reading.


	16. Chapter 16

Seven days. Only seven days in paradise with Naruto remained. Riko sighed dejectedly, leaning back in her chair. She had been sitting at her desk for over two hours typing notes for the next novel while Naruto napped.

Her eyes strayed across the courtyard to peer at him through the glass wall of the bedroom. The sheer curtains around the bed did nothing to block him from her view. Instead, they offered a fabulous aesthetic to the picture of the naked, sleeping man lying behind the gossamer seascape colored material.

"Hmmm," she exhaled, appreciating his form for more than artistic purposes.

Her whole body tingled with the memory of their exhilarating morning together. Their day started at dawn catching waves, experiencing one glorious thrill ride after another. The ecstasy of the adrenaline rush was not unlike that of a satisfying orgasm. After returning to the house, they showered together. Getting clean had never been so dirty.

Riko's computer emitted a melodious mechanical chime startling her out of her reverie. She saw that Jiraiya was calling her. She smiled. He must be worried since she had not contacted him in so long. Sometimes he acted exactly like a doting, protective father.

Pressing the return key, she answered the call. The program opened, revealing a live picture of him to her and turning on her camera as well so he could see her. His wild white hair poked up in directions in the front, but the long back had been tied into a low ponytail. Although not in Hawaii, he wore a red Hawaiian shirt decorated with massive white Hibiscus flowers. He reminded her of an aging surfer dude who refused to grow up and admit his age. He grinned broadly at her, waving ecstatically.

"What's up, old man?" she greeted him. She took great joy in reminding him of his age. He did not seem to mind though.

"Hey, hey, little one! How's your vacation going?" he inquired jovially.

"Great! How are things going with you?"

"Fantastic as always! How's the kiddo?"

"Well, he's not a kid anymore. He did what boys do and grew into a man," she said, feeling her face warming. God, she hoped the perpetual pervert did not notice her blush, but he was a perceptive old coot.

"What's wrong with your face?" Jiraiya leaned forward, all of his face disappearing but one intense dark eye which squinted to study her more closely on his screen.

 _Shit!_

"My face? What's wrong with my face?" She gingerly touched her face, searching for anything that might be out of place. Did she have strawberry jam from breakfast smeared on her cheek or something?

"What's that?" He pointed at her on the screen as if she could tell exactly where he was pointing.

"What's what?" she squeaked, getting nervous.

"You're smiling. A lot. And blushing." He paused, sitting back in his chair. He pressed the tips of his fingers together, steepling them under his chin. One of his thin eyebrows raised quizzically toward his hairline.

 _Oh, god. He knows. He can see it! Damn, pervert_ , she thought, desperately attempting to keep her cool. She twisted one of her spiral curls around her finger, straightening it out before letting it go to pop back up into its spring like form. When he inhaled, she chewed her lower lip. _Here it comes. The interrogation._

"Sooooo...how are things between you two?" He looked pensive, choosing his words carefully. For once in his life he seemed to be applying tact instead rushing headlong into asking sordid questions to get the juicy details.

"Good. Really good. Things between us are always good," she replied, rambling nervously while her face grew hotter. She reached for her glass of ice water, almost knocking it over. Grasping the glass the with both hands, she carefully lifted it to her mouth.

"How good?" He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Have you two gotten, shall we say, closer?"

"Jesus, Jiraiya! If you have something to say, just fucking say it!" she screeched, growing impatient and tense due to her apprehension.

"Funny you should mention fucking, my dear, did you - " he began only to be cut off abruptly.

"Say one more word, and I end the call," she warned him, her hand moving the mouse to hover over the red button with the little phone on it.

"Hey, sweetheart, no judgment here. You know me better than that." He was no longer smiling. Rarely did the man wear a serious expression on his face.

"I do. It's just...I don't know how this happened. I never thought..." She emptied her glass to cool her parched throat. "I never imagined our relationship would become something like this."

"Does he love you?" Jiraiya questioned her no longer engaging in lighthearted banter.

"Y-yes," she stuttered.

"Do you love him?"

"More than ever."

"Are you happy?"

"Very."

"Then what's the problem?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders.

Naruto had the same irritating way of oversimplifying a complicated matter. Must be a man thing. Although she would admit she had a tendency to overthink situations allowing irrational thinking steered by negative emotions to overwhelm her. Must be a woman thing. Definitely a Riko thing.

"A lot of people would say what we've done is wrong, that we're sick, but I love him," she confessed. "It just seemed...right."

"Maybe it is for you two. Not everybody lives their lives the same way. We sometimes find a deeper love in the most unexpected places," he said in a gentle, understanding manner.

"I'm going to miss him when the summer is over. So much so I can't bear to think about it. I don't know if I can stay here once he's gone," she sighed, her voice warbling slightly from the tears she fought to hold back.

"My darling girl, that's up to you. If want me to send you a plane ticket to go ahead and meet me, I will. However, we had already decided you should take a break for a few months. Maybe you need to take the time to be by yourself. It sounds like there is going to be a lot you need to come to terms with. Cry, scream, break things, sleep, do whatever you have to do to deal with the heart ache. Use your pain to change your life - like you did before."

Riko sat quietly, her eyes on the screen but unfocused. She had drifted off somewhere, deep into her own head, contemplating her coming loneliness.

"Do what you do best. Write. Pour your heart out in words," Jiraiya continued assuming he was getting through the wall of her thoughts. "Allow the pain to flow out and make something beautiful. Write your first solo novel. It's time for you to make your debut. I've already told you I won't allow you to hide behind me forever."

"How long will be I be allowed to stay here?" she inquired, feeling like a child asking her father's permission to stay another night at a friend's house.

"Stay as long as you need," he added. "We can communicate like this and send transcripts through email. We can work around it."

"Oh, by the way, I plan on making a trip home in April for Naruto's graduation."

"You're going home?" His narrow eyes widened abnormally in surprise before returning to their normal size. He inhaled deeply then pushed out the breath noisily through his nose. She could tell he disapproved, not liking the idea at all. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I think it's a horrible idea. I know there are far too many ghosts from my past residing there. I left too many loose ends. Too many things undone. Too many words unsaid." She dragged in a shaky breath. "The scariest part is I have to face my sister. And after what's happened between Naruto and I, I just don't know how I will do that." She smiled with only a tinge of sadness lingering at the corners of her mouth. "But...but it's important to Naruto that I come to his graduation. I promised him I would be there."

"That young man means the world to you doesn't he?"

"Yes. He always has."

"Tell me honestly Riko, what are you more afraid of in this situation? Are you more afraid of what other people will think of you if they find out about your new relationship with Naruto or..."

Riko forced herself to take slow, deep inhales as she waited to hear the rest of his question. She did not want to hear her worst fear voiced aloud.

"Or are you more afraid of what Naruto will think of you? What if other people drive him away from you? What if he falls in love with another woman? What if he grows to resent you, to hate you?" he inquired as gently as possible, giving voice to all of the questions she had asked herself a thousand times in her head. "You could lose him forever. And that's what you fear most? Isn't it?"

"I can't bear the thought of living without him in my life," she admitted, her voice a mere whisper. "I have to be with him in some form or fashion. That's why...that's why I was so terrified of taking this step. It could end everything."

"Yeah. It could," he agreed without intending to be cruel. "I know how the thought of seeing him every summer has sustained you these last seven years. That boy gave a reason to live when you had none." He grew quiet, his eyebrows drawing together in contemplation as he looked at her on the screen of his computer. "Do you think you made a mistake?"

Riko swallowed convulsively to rid herself of the lump of emotion clogging her throat. Jiraiya was being the wonderful friend he had always been. He was playing devil's advocate, asking her the tough questions she needed to find answers to in order to know how to proceed with her life. This summer would soon be over and so would the fantasy within a safe haven she and Naruto had created for themselves.

"I don't think I made a mistake," she replied, her words projecting a strong conviction.

"Then do what you've always done. Take a deep breath, pick yourself up, go on and be brave. Live life on your own terms and to hell with the rest. No one can live your life but you."

"Yeah, you're right," she agreed.

Movement at the door to her office caught her attention. Naruto stood in the doorway rubbing his eyes reminding her of the sleepy little boy who would sometimes stumble into her bedroom early on weekend mornings and crawl into bed with her to sleep soundly in her arms.

Her eyes roamed down his body. He was wearing nothing but a pair of orange board shorts, leaving his muscular chest and limbs bare. He was no longer that sweet little boy. A man had arrived at her door. The man who loved her, and she loved him.

"Hey, old man, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later," she said, clicking the button to end the call without waiting for him to say good-bye.

"Your boss?" Naruto guessed, walking toward her as she closed the computer.

"Yeah. Discussing future plans," she said, opening her arms to him when he knelt in front of her.

"Hmmm," he groaned, placing his cheek against her heart as she cradled his head in her hands.

A shiver of excitement ran up Riko's spine when his lips grazed the roundness of her breast not covered by her mint green tank top. She closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth of his breath across her chest, the strength of his shoulders under her arms as she embraced him.

"Future plans, huh? Have you thought about what the future might hold for us?" he asked her, placing his big hands on her jean short clad hips to pull her to the edge of the chair.

Riko looked up at him, suddenly finding herself under his chest in a half lying down position in the chair.

"Honestly, I haven't thought about it yet," she admitted, her eyes jumping back and forth between his ocean tinted irises. "All I can think about is the next breath, the next kiss, the next touch, I'll get to share with you, in this moment."

"That's good enough for now, I suppose."

Riko held her breath as he kissed her, a sweet, light kiss on her lips, giving everything yet asking nothing in return. She opened her eyes to gaze at his face when he lifted his head.

"Will you write your first book about us?" he queried, kissing the tip of her nose.

"Do you think I should?" Her belly fluttered nervously.

"I do," he answered, smiling at the sound of the two words together.

"That's one little phrase we will never be able to say to each other," she reminded him.

"The hell you say," he snapped, pressing his lips to hers to silence her before she could utter another negative word. "I can say 'I do' as much as I want. I do want to surf more waves with you. I do want to cook more meals with you. I do love you. I do want to be with you. I do want to make love to you. I do..." He kissed her left cheek. "I do." He kissed her right cheek. His eyes met hers. "I do."

Riko wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist when he pulled her from the chair and into his lap. She nestled her head into the curve of his shoulder at the base of his neck as he held her.

"You know what I _do not_ want to do?" he whispered in her ear.

"What?" She tilted her face upward to see his face.

"I do not want to let you go." His lips found hers for another kiss.

 _Then don't. For the sake of love and everything that is within us, don't let me go,_ she begged silently with her beseeching kiss. _You have always been and always will be the one who has held me together._


	17. Chapter 17

Riko walked to the kitchen for a snack after finishing the rough draft of the introduction for her novel. When she saw Naruto standing at the counter preparing a sandwich, she stopped abruptly. Her eyes focused on his wide shoulders, then slid over the gently flexing muscles of his back. Long streaks like scratches from a cat extended from his shoulder blades down to his waist. Only faint pink marks remained from where she had clawed him during their last passionate encounter.

Her eyes fixed themselves on Naruto's ass hidden under the blue board shorts. She tiptoed soundlessly across the floor to stand behind him while he layered turkey and cheese and a second sandwich. Drawing back her hand, she gave him a jarring slap on the behind that made him jump and yelp while causing him to bang his knees on the wooden doors of the lower cupboards.

"What the hell!" he yelled, whirling around to glare at her. "The least you could do is warn a guy. Damn."

"What would be the fun in that?" She shrugged nonchalantly as he rubbed his injured derriere.

She moved closer to him, pressing her chest to his. Her nipples drew to hard points under her thin cotton dress as she leaned against him. Her hand slid under his, massaging his sore butt cheek. His behind was so supple under her grasping fingers yet could turn hard as a rock when he contracted those muscles.

"Did it hurt?" she asked, her voice breathy and seductive. She squeezed his ass until he gasped. A lecherous grin curled the corners of her mouth. "But I think you liked it."

"I did," he confessed in a whisper.

A faint pink blush spread across the tops of his tanned cheeks under his eyes making his blue irises appear to glow. His golden blond hair had turned a lighter, almost straw color from being bleached by the sun. Despite their hours spent indoors, they had also managed to fit in quite few outdoor activities all which had turned him into a bronzed god with a body on par with many Greek sculptures revered to be the epitome of male perfection.

"Do you want me to do it again?" she inquired, watching his eyes close and his lower jaw drop when she mercilessly pinched his behind.

"Y-yes," he stammered.

"Say yes, mistress," she commanded him, tracing his lower lip with her forefinger.

"What?" he snorted, his mouth quirking upward on one side to form a lazy, lopsided grin.

"You heard me. Say yes, mistress," she repeated.

"Yes, mistress," he complied, smiling down at her. He appeared to like where this was going.

"Turn around," she ordered him, backing away to give him room.

Naruto swiveled his body, turning his back to her. He placed his hands flat on the counter, leaving the sandwiches abandoned to sate a different appetite.

 _Whack!_ She delivered a quick smack to his behind. He emitted a grunt followed by a deep guttural groan rolling from deep in his chest. The sensual sound made her knees weak.

Her abdomen clenched tightly when she placed her hand on his shoulder noting the sensation of his muscles twitching under his smooth skin. Her fingers trailed across his back before her palm rested on his other shoulder. She relished every taut muscle, the silkiness his warm golden skin, as her hand moved down his back to his waist.

Riko stepped closer, her lips pressing to his spine between his shoulder blades. She kissed him along his backbone down to the top of his shorts. The moan he issued caused her stomach to flutter. Her fingers hooked over the top of his shorts before sliding them downward. Her knuckles grazed his behind, following the curve of each cheek.

"Mmmm, oh god," he moaned when she placed a kiss to each of the dimples in his back above his butt.

At his knees, Riko allowed the shorts to fall to the floor. At first she simply gazed at his behind, appreciating the snowy white color of his cheeks in comparison to the tanned skin of his back. His behind was round and firmly muscled from a summer spent surfing, swimming, running in the sand, and having lots of sex.

She slapped his ass with enough force the contact made a sadistically pleasant crack in the air, stinging her palm. Naruto issued a whimper then a muted howl suppressed by his tightly clamped lips. Heat spread throughout her belly, running deep inside her, trickling into her thighs. She struck him again, hard enough to make it hurt only a little - the kind of pleasurable pain he craved. His cock twitched and moved of its own volition, anticipating more as the lingering tingle in her palm began to subside.

"I want to touch you," he said, turning his head to glimpse at her at her over his shoulder.

"Ask properly," she responded curtly.

"May I touch you, mistress?" he asked. "Please?"

"You may," she returned, stepping back to allow him to rotate his body toward her.

Riko kept her eyes on his face as his forefingers crooked around the tiny spaghetti straps of her little black dress. She studied every blink, every little lift of the corners of his mouth, as he pulled the straps down her arms, lowering the top of the dress to her waist, to reveal her breasts.

Instead of immediately groping her breasts, one of his slightly calloused hands rested on her shoulder, gliding down her arm to her hand. He stroked the back of her hand with his fingertips, then her palm. Taking her small hand in his, he lifted her it to his mouth, kissing the palm. The pink tip of his tongue darted out, sliding up her forefinger before taking her finger into his mouth to suck it.

Riko bit back a moan, chewing on her lower lip. The heat inside of her exploded, scattering throughout her body like fiery sensual shrapnel, tickling her nerve endings and leaving behind a tingling sensation. Her eyes captured his when they moved to her face. A sigh refused to be contained when he pulled her finger from his mouth leaving behind a silvery thread of saliva connecting them.

"May I touch you more, mistress?"

"Yes," she replied, her voice raspy with desire.

Naruto's hands cupped her breasts, kneading them with his fingers. His thumbs brushed over the rigid, pointed nipples making her gasp. He continued to massage them, covering them with his palms, rolling her nipples through his fingers. Leaning down to her, he placed his lips next to her ear, his hot breath tickling her neck with each exhale.

"May I kiss your breasts? May I suck your nipples, mistress?" he asked.

Riko held onto his waist to keep herself from falling when his warm, wet tongue licked a stimulating trail from her earlobe down to her shoulder.

"Yes, you may," she responded breathlessly.

Riko's arms encircled his shoulders after he lowered his body to his knees in front of her. Tender kisses in concentric circles around the entirety of her breast teased her, driving her crazy in the best way. By the time he had covered the other breast with his kisses, the pressure had mounted inside of her until its heavy weight threatened to send her to her knees.

When his delightful tongue lapped over her nipple before drawing it into his mouth to suck lightly, she moaned like a tortured woman. She thrust her hands into his hair, holding his head as he teased her nipple by intermittently sucking then licking it. When he nipped the sensitive flesh, she yelped, pulling his hair.

Naruto released her nipple from his mouth with a pop. Pressing his forehead to her belly, he panted for air.

"May I touch you more?" he inquired, his fingers grasping her ankles.

"Yes," she breathed, her hands holding his head. "Please."

Riko bit her lower lip to hold back a moan as his slightly roughened hands skimmed across her skin, moving upward, following every curve of her calves and thighs before sliding under her short dress to rest on her hips. His fingers eased under the edge of her panties, hesitating momentarily before pulling them downward. The elastic created an enticing friction on her skin along the length of her thighs as he pulled them off.

"Mistress," Naruto said, waiting until she looked down at him. "May I lick you?"

"Yes, you may," she responded, straining to stay in character despite wanting to beg for his most intimate touch.

Resting her hands on his shoulders, she shifted her weight onto her right foot as he lifted her left leg under her knee then placed it over his shoulder. Her womanhood spread open before him, his tongue slithered between her slick lips.

Riko feared she might fall when his tongue touched her swollen, throbbing clitoris. Instead, her fingers dug into his broad shoulders, her leg clamping firmly over his shoulder to hold her up.

"Mmmm, Naruto," she moaned as his tongue delved into her.

His tongue traced her outer lips, licking away the wetness before following along the soft petal like edges of the inner labia. The tip of his tongue teased her pulsing clit, flicking it playfully before he kissed it then sucked it between his lips.

"Oh, god!" she cried out, her hands moving to his head.

Her hips pushed at his face as he alternately licked and sucked her clitoris. Occasionally he would go lower, touching her entrance to make her jump and squirm before he thrust his writhing tongue inside of her. He continued switching back and forth between the clitoral stimulation and tongue fucking her until she came, nearly suffocating him in the process.

Riko trembled, hanging onto him for dear life when her jellied legs would no longer hold her up. She felt herself being carefully lowered to the kitchen floor. The coldness of the tiles was soothing to her back as she lay there inhaling short, shallow breaths through her mouth.

"Mistress," Naruto said, hovering over her on all fours. "May I fuck you?"

Riko nodded but placed her hand on his chest, pushing him back when he attempted his lower himself on top of her. Ignoring the confusion on his face, she turned over onto her belly under him before raising up onto her knees.

"Now, you may fuck me," she said, pressing her legs along the inner sides of his as she backed her behind up to him.

"Oh, yes, mistress. Your wish is my command," he whispered in her ear, easily sliding into her in the doggy position.

Riko liked the way his body covered hers, encapsulating her, dominating her. Although she was pretending to in charge of him, she was definitely allowing him to control her body at this time. She yelled out his name when his hand moved between her thighs, his fingers massaging her clitoris as he hammered into her. He took her rough and hard, coming fast but he continued rubbing her until she orgasmed again and again becoming a shaking, whimpering sweaty mess under him.

"Did I please you, mistress?" Naruto asked, kissing the back of her neck when she collapsed onto the sweat dampened tiles.

"Very much," she panted, pressing her hot cheek to the comfortably cool floor.

"Would you like for me to do it again?" He bit her shoulder bringing a moan from her lips.

"Y-yes," she stuttered as he gently rolled her over onto her back.

Naruto took his time entering her, his eyes staring into hers until he sank into her yearning body to the hilt.

"Your wish is my command."


End file.
